


The Phantom Thieves of Vengeance

by el_pepe



Category: Persona 5
Genre: F/F, F/M, NaNoWriMo 2020, Relationship tags added later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-05
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:08:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 8
Words: 70,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27397729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/el_pepe/pseuds/el_pepe
Summary: Sometimes, being in the right place at the right time can mean the difference between life and death. Akira, after overhearing Kamoshida bragging about his rape of Shiho, retreats to the roof to vent his anger. While there, he manages to stop Shiho from jumping by promising her a way to get her revenge. This one action can change the entire course of the game.Based on Chapter 08 - Time Paradox from my one-shot collection The Phantom Thieves of New Game+.Next chapter on March 10, 2021.
Relationships: Amamiya Ren/Niijima Sae, Kurusu Akira/Niijima Sae, Persona 5 Protagonist/Niijima Sae, Suzui Shiho/Takamaki Ann
Comments: 40
Kudos: 98





	1. The Right Place at the Right Time

**Author's Note:**

> When writing my one-shot collection, one of the chapters I wrote involved Akira trying to stop Shiho from jumping. He manages to stop her and convinces her to follow him into the Metaverse to get her revenge on Kamoshida. Since that is not how the game is supposed to play out, the timeline got reset to the beginning. I liked the idea, so this was born.
> 
> This time, there are no time-loops. There are no higher powers that want the pieces to play out exactly how they do in the game. This time, there is only vengeance.
> 
> You thought the Palace rulers were evil in the game? This makes them look like Disney villains.
> 
> TW: Mention of rape  
> TW: Mention of suicide  
> TW: Mention of grooming

"I'm telling you, Mishima, I want you to get Takamaki in here." he heard Kamoshida say, getting his attention. Akira, who had been on his way to one of the lesser-used restrooms, pressed his back against a wall, listening in.

"But...I don't know how to get her to see you." he heard Mishima say.

"I don't care what you tell her." Kamoshida replied. "You can tell her the truth for all I care."

"The truth...Sir?"

"Tell her if she doesn't want me to screw her little friend again, she'd better come to me."

_Her friend? Does he mean Shiho?_

"...Suzui..."

"Yeah, her." Kamoshida said, his voice taking a twisted note. "I couldn't believe she was a virgin. Every other one I'd fucked had already lost it. Maybe I'll let you have a go with her if you do good for me."

Akira felt his eyes go wide at the implication of what he just said hit him.

"What did you do to her?"

"I thought it was plainly obvious, you dumbass." Kamoshida answered, his voice haughty. "I simply gave her what all women want. Just because she cried and begged me to stop the entire time doesn't change the truth. She was no different than all the others, getting wet no matter how much they begged me to stop."

"That...but that's..."

"You help me, and I'll make sure you can have some fun with her." Kamoshida said, his voice lowering in pitch. "Let's be honest, you'll never get any pussy otherwise."

"But..."

"Of course, there's also the fact that the last person to see her before her rape was you." he replied, his voice suddenly going cheerful. "I can't believe you raped the poor girl and then tried to pin it on me."

"What!?" Mishima yelled in shock. "I didn't do that!"

"Your word...against mine." Kamoshida replied, the evil smile evident in his voice. "You get Takamaki to me, I'll make sure you get to have some fun with a real pussy. You don't get her, and you'll never get anything but a dick up the ass in jail. So what do you say? Do you want to get the pussy? Or do you want to become one?"

"I...I want it." he heard Mishima said in defeat.

"You want...what?" Kamoshida asked, his voice dark. "You want it in the ass?"

"No." Mishima replied. "I...I want..."

"Say it."

"I want...I want pussy."

"Good." Kamoshida said, suddenly cheerful. "That wasn't so hard now, was it? You better not let me down."

Akira couldn't take it anymore.

-

Akira was standing on the roof, trying his hardest not to punch the wall. He wanted to scream in anger, but knew that he couldn't. The last thing he needed was for Kamoshida to come up and find him. He would probably pin the rape on him. He knew Mishima would probably enjoy that, having the threat of jail taken off his head. Even knowing that the boy had been coerced into agreeing to it, he still couldn't believe how spineless the boy was to simply accept it.

_Seriously...fuck Mishima._

The door slowly opening pulled him out of his thoughts. He watched as Shiho walked out, her face stained with tears. Her eyes were puffy, with dark bags under them showing signs of having not slept. He noticed that she was walking carefully, as if moving to much hurt her. The look on her face was one of soul-crushingly broken defeat. She looked toward the edge of the roof and started to walk toward it.

Seeing her that way only made his hate for Kamoshida to grow, as well as deep resentment and hatred toward Mishima to fully take root.

"Shiho." he said, stepping out into her field of view. She startled, jumping back against the wall as her face turned into one of fear.

"You're...you're...in Ann's class...right?" she said, her breathing quickly growing out of control.

"Yeah, I am." he said, not approaching her. "My name is Kurusu Akira. We met a few days ago, remember?"

"Ye...yeah." she said, slowly getting her breathing under control. "What are...why are you here?"

"I know what Kamoshida did to you." he said, causing her to flinch and look away. "I...I overheard him talking about it. I came up here to vent my frustrations about it."

"So...you know." she said softly, her voice monotone in defeat.

"You're not planning on jumping, are you?" he asked, causing her head to snap up and stare at him. It showed that he guessed right. "You don't have to do this. There are people who don't want you to jump."

"Like who?" she asked as tears started to bead up in her eyes. "My parents? They were thrilled when they heard an Olympic-class athlete took an interest in me. The teachers? They don't care about anything except what makes them look good. The principle? I'm sure he knows about Kamoshida. The perfect little student council president? Her head is so far up the principles ass that she may as well be a continuation of him." she continued, her voice rising as the tears started to fall.

"Shiho." he said softly, afraid to approach her and scare her even more.

"Do you think Kamoshida will care!?" she yelled, stepping away from the wall. "All he will see is a good little pocket pussy he can no longer fuck! He sure as hell won't care if I go splat! He'd probably jerk off to it later!"

"Then what about Ann!?" he yelled, getting her to stop. "Ann loves you. She would do anything for you. She does not want you to jump."

"...Ann..." she muttered, slowly collapsing to her knees. She hugged herself as she broke out into sobs. Akira stood there for a moment before slowly approaching her. He knelt down next to her and pulled her into a hug, causing her to start to fight him.

"You're safe." he said whispered, accepting the hits. "Kamoshida will never hurt you again, I swear."

"You can't promise that." she said, no longer bothering to try and fight him.

"Yes I can." he said, taking a deep breath. He knew they never really made a decision one way or the other about that other world, but he was making one now. He could only hope Ryuji and that weird cat would forgive him for what he was about to do. He lowered his mouth next to her ear. "After class, head straight to our classroom. Ann will be with us, and she will do everything in her power to keep you safe. We're going to join Ryuji and walk over to an alleyway that is across from the school. Remember, Ann will be with you, and she will keep you safe, okay?"

"Ann will be with me." she repeated.

"That's right." he said. "Ann with be with you. What will she be doing?"

"She'll be keeping me safe."

"That's right." he said, rubbing small circles on her back. "We're going to go somewhere and we'll be seeing things that may scare both of you, but I promise that no harm will come to either of you. Once we get there, you will both gain the power to get revenge on Kamoshida."

"We'll get revenge?"

"Both you and Ann will." he replied, nodding his head against hers. He hoped they would, at least. "He will then confess with his own mouth every crime he has committed. He will confess to physically abusing and beating both volleyball teams, he will admit to purposely abusing the track team and being the one who started the incident where he broke Ryuji's leg, and he'll admit to every time he molested or raped one of his students."

"How do you know this?" she asked, curiosity slowly starting to take the place of the monotone in her voice.

"That I can't tell you." he said, mostly because he really didn't know if that would happen. That was what Morgana said would happen, but he really had no idea if it would. Pulling away from her, he looked her in eyes. Even though he still saw the pain, the horror, and the brokenness that was there since she was raped, he saw something else as well.

"After school...go get Ann...follow you...get revenge." she said, getting him to nod his head.

"That's right." he said, giving her a small smile.

"Okay." she said, turning her head to look at the ledge. "I came up here ready to die."

"I know."

"Kamoshida...he..." she started saying, trailing off.

"I know." Akira said, pulling her close again. "You don't have to say it."

"Why did he do that to me?" she asked, her voice breaking with fresh sobs.

"Because he's an egomaniac who believes his position allows him to get away with whatever he wants." he replied, once again rubbing soft circles on her back. "He sees this school as a castle, with himself as its ruling king." he muttered, getting her to let a single laugh between the sobs. She continued to cry as he held her, not letting go as her sobs slowly subsided.

"Hey...would you still...I mean..." she trailed off, lowering her head for a moment. "If someone you knew who was raped admitted they liked you as more than friend, what would you..." she trailed off again.

"If I also liked them as more than a friend, I would tell them I also liked them." he said firmly, getting her to look up at him. "If I only liked them as a friend, I would do my all best to let them down gently. Same as any other friend." he continued, pulling away to look her in eyes. "Anyone who was a true friend would do that." he finished, getting Shiho to give him a small smile.

Slowly, they got up off the ground and he once again took a few steps back. "So, after school...?" he asked, trailing off.

"After school, I go get Ann." Shiho said, looking up at him. "Then we meet up with Sakamoto-kun, and somehow find a way to make Kamoshida confess everything."

"That's right."

"Okay." she said, taking a deep breath before once again looking toward the edge of the school roof. She closed her eyes and turned back to him, giving him a small smile. "Thank you."

"Any time." he said. She nodded her head toward him and made her way back to the door.

"There are other people besides Ann who don't want you to jump, you know." he said suddenly, causing her to stop and turn back to look at him. "Ryuji, he wouldn't want you to jump. Your parents, they don't want you to jump. And I don't want you to jump."

"Thank you." she said again, a few new tears leaking from her eyes. She took a deep breath and wiped them away before looking back at him. "After school?"

"After school." he confirmed. She nodded and walked back into the school.

Her eyes still showed the pain, the horror, and the brokenness of what had been done to her. He knew they would probably show that in some form for the rest of her life, a crime that forcing Kamoshida to confess his crimes and have a change of heart would never be able to heal. But her eyes also showed a new emotion.

Hope.

"Your days are numbered, Kamoshida." Akira said, reaching to pull out his phone and contact Ryuji to give him the update.

 **AKIRA** : After school, we're heading into Kamoshida's Palace thing.

**RYUJI:** Fo'real!?

**AKIRA:** Yes. Meet me in the alley.

 **RYUJI:** Uh...sure.

**RYUJI:** Also...you know that weird cat thing?

**RYUJI:** It's here...as a normal cat...that talks.

Akira looked down at his phone for a moment, rereading the message again. He closed his eyes and shook his head before opening them again. The message was still there.

**AKIRA:** What?

**RYUJI:** Apparently it was looking for you.

**AKIRA:** Tell it to stay with you and you'll bring it to me after school.

**AKIRA:** Also...is it a boy or a girl?

**RYUJI:** He says he's a boy. With a girl's name. So...who knows.

The more Akira thought about it, the less he honestly cared. He let out a small sigh and made his way back into the school. While still pissed, he knew he would be able to stay calm.

At least, provided he didn't see Kamoshida or Mishima.

...who he shares a class with.

"This is going to be a long afternoon." he muttered, opening the door and heading back down.

-

AFTER SCHOOL

-

"Hey, who are those two girls walking with him?" he heard Morgana ask as he approached with Ann and Shiho. He stopped for a brief moment in shock before continuing on, deciding he would worry about it later. Ryuji turned to look at them and his eyes widened in surprise.

"Dude, why are you bringing them here?" he asked, trying to look as nonchalant as possible.

"Not here." he said, walking a bit into the alley. They followed him before he stopped and turned to face Shiho. "Remember what I told you. You will see some things that will scare you, but we will keep you safe, okay?"

"Okay." she said, her voice shaking slightly.

"Are you going to finally tell me what the hell is going on?" Ann asked, looking between all of them. "Seriously, if you get her in trouble, I'll-"

"I know." Akira cut her off, pulling out his phone. He opened the Meta-nav and accessed the only saved location listed on there.

"Beginning navigation." the voice said over the phone. The world around them started to distort, causing the two girls to grab their heads in pain for a moment before looking back up, only to scream in fright.

"What the hell is that thing!?" Ann yelled, pulling Shiho behind her.

"It's...a monster cat." Shiho muttered, gripping onto Ann tightly.

"I'm not a cat!" Morgana yelled, crossing his arms. "Or a monster! I'm a human! I just look like this because, well...I'm not really sure. But I'm a human!"

"What's with your getups?" Ann asked, finally looking up at Akira and Ryuji.

"We can explain more in detail later." Akira said, putting his hands in his pockets. "Short version is this. We are inside Kamoshida's heart...supposedly. The outfits and powers we have are because we have awakened a spirit of rebellion or something like that. Also, that's how Kamoshida sees the school." he finished, pointing behind them. The two girls turned and gasped at the castle.

"Uh...where's the school!?" Ann yelled in shock as Shiho simply shook her head.

"He sees the school as a castle, and himself the ruling king." she said, turning to face Akira. "This is what you meant by that?"

"Yes." he said simply. "We go in there, and odds are very high you will gain the type of powers we have. It will be painful when you get them, but the aftereffects are freeing."

"Okay." Shiho said, nodding resolutely. "Let's go."

"Wait, what?" Ann said, turning to face her. "Shiho, I'm not letting these idiots take you in there." she continued before turning to face Akira. "Get us the hell out of here. Now."

"I agree with her, Dude." Ryuji said, turning to face him. "They have no reason to be here. Besides, I thought you were against this idea to start with."

"He's right." Morgana agreed, nodding his head. "You should have never brought them in here."

"I have my reasons." Akira said, his face going hard. "That should be enough."

"Dude, the shit in there is dangerous." Ryuji countered, crossing his arms and leaning back against the alley wall. "Do you know how hard it will be to keep both of them safe?"

"If you don't want to be here, then leave." he said forcefully. "You're right. I was against this idea. However, you were all for it and damn the consequences. I figured you be on board with this."

"I was only all for it and damn the consequences if something happened that would make the risk worth it! Him physically abusing the volleyball team doesn't really cut it! Besides, that still doesn't explain your sudden change of heart, nor bringing those two here!" he yelled, pushing off against the wall.

"My reasoning doesn't matter." he said, taking his hands out of his pockets. "Like I said, if you will not take my word that the reason is important, then leave."

"It's because Kamoshida raped me!" Shiho yelled, getting them to turn to her.

"He what!?" Ann yelled, turning her towards her. "No. No, please tell me this is a sick joke."

"Yesterday, when he sent Mishima to summon me..." she trailed off, looking away from them.

"That effin' piece of shit!" Ryuji yelled, hit the wall next to him. "That...fuck!"

"Why haven't you told anyone!?" Ann yelled, causing Shiho to start to close in on herself.

"Takamaki, ease up some." Akira said.

"You should have gone to the police, or the principle, or your parents, or-"

"Because they don't care!" Shiho yelled, causing Ann to step back. "My parents didn't care when he started to molest me! They said it was 'normal' to be done in sports, and that I should be proud to catch the eye of someone like him! Why would they care if the molestation turned into rape!?"

"Shiho..." Ann muttered as tears started to fall from her eyes. "You could have come to me."

"I know that now." she said, taking a deep breath. "I...I was going to jump."

"What?" Ann asked, her voice soft as tears started to leak from her eyes. Ryuji and Morgana also turned back to Shiho at the confession.

"I was going to jump." she repeated, looking over at the school. "I couldn't take it anymore. I couldn't take the feeling of his hands on me every time I closed my eyes. But Kurusu stopped me." she said, turning to look at him. "He told me that there were people who wouldn't want me to jump. He said that you, and Sakamoto as well, wouldn't want me to jump."

"You idiot!" Ann yelled, throwing her arms around Shiho. She flinched slightly before returning the hug, starting to cry as well. "I don't care what happens. I don't care what time of day it is, what my plans for the day are, or even if it's the middle of the night. You come to me before you do that again, got it!"

"He's right, ya know." Ryuji said, getting their attention. He scratched the side of his absently for a moment before continuing. "I know I don't know you as well as Takamaki, but...I don't want to see you jump either. If you ever need someone to talk you out of it, or keep you from doing that, well...you can call me as well. Even if it's only until Takamaki can get to wherever you are, I'll talk."

"Thank you...all of you." Shiho said, lowering her head and nuzzling it against Ann's neck. The two continued to hold each other for a moment before breaking away. "I am going in there." she said firmly, looking between Ann and Ryuji. "Kurusu promised me a way to make him confess everything he did. I'm going to make sure he does that. I'm sure it would help if you came with us, but I will go alone with him if you don't want to."

"Just so you know, if we mess this up, the real Kamoshida can die." Morgana said, drawing the girls' attention. Ann started to open her mouth to say something before Shiho cut her off.

"Then he dies."

"I agree." Ryuji said, stretching. "Akira was right. If Kamoshida did something to make me do this, it would have to be something where I would say damn the consequences. Rape is one of those things."

"You can still leave, Takamaki." Akira said after a moment of silence. Ann turned to face him before shaking her head.

"I agree." she said, her voice shaking slightly. "Damn the consequences."

"Alright." Akira said, nodding his head at them before turning to look down at Morgana. "Now that we have that settled, first things first. Morgana, how do we change his heart and make him confess his crimes?"

"The first thing we will need to do is secure a route to his treasure." Morgana said, looking up at them. "It should be in the hardest-to-reach area."

"Top of the tower, maybe?" Ann asked, turning to look up at the castle.

"Probably, but we won't know for sure until we're there." he said, looking at the two girls. "Odds are, you'll be forced to accept your rebellious spirit when we're inside. Sadly, it's not something that can be manufactured. You'll probably have to face Kamoshida's Shadow in order to gain it."

"So we face his Shadow, and then we get powers like you guys have?" Shiho asked, looking up at Akira.

"That's right." Akira said, nodding his head.

"I'll explain more once we get to his treasure." Morgana said, getting a nod from the group. "Also, you have to understand something. You cannot kill his Shadow. If you kill his Shadow, he will die in the real world. His body will shut down."

"Shut down?" Ryuji asked, looking at him. "What do you mean by that?"

"We're going to steal his treasure." Morgana said, looking up at him. "By doing so, we're removing his twisted desires, but he should still have normal base desires like eating and drinking...I think. But, if we kill his Shadow, all his desires will be removed. He will simply stop everything and even things like breathing and his heart beating will cease."

"Could that be what these mental shutdowns are?" Akira asked, causing the rest to look at him.

"The what?" Ryuji asked, scratching his head in confusion.

"You mean those things they have been talking about on TV?" Ann asked, getting him to nod his head in agreement.

"We can look into it later." Morgana said, drawing their attention back to himself. "There is another place I can show you later that may be connected to what you're talking about, but right now we should focus on this."

"He's right." Akira said, turning back to the castle. "Let's go. Takamaki, Suzui. Try and stay behind us."

-

_"So, you want to be a starter?" Kamoshida asked her, looking down at her. She looked up at him and nodded, her face firm with determination._

_"I was the starter on my middle school team." she replied, looking at his face for any sign of his impression. It remained blank, not showing any emotion at all. "I believe I would help bring Shujin's volleyball team to the nationals."_

_"Is that right?" he asked, walking around her. She kept still, trying to ignore the nagging feeling that something was wrong. As he completed his walk, she noticed his eyes roaming her. She felt something shoot down her spine, and wrote it off as nerves. "How far would you be willing to go for the team?"_

_"I'd do anything for the team, Kamoshida-sensei." she replied, causing a small smile to start spreading across his face._

_"Is that right?" he asked again. "Well, I guess we'll have to get started on turning you into a starter that will be worthy of being on my team."_

"...Suzui..."

_She spiked the ball, watching as it quickly bounced before Kamoshida could hit it back. She felt a rush of pleasure shoot through her as he watched the ball bounce away before he turned back to her, smiling. Even though she knew it was just practice, even though she knew he really was going easy on her, she had just spiked a ball on an Olympic gold medalist._

_"You've really improved, Suzui." he said, causing her smile to grow. "By the time you leave Shujin, you may even be able to try out for the Olympic team."_

_"You jest, Sir." she replied, blushing. He walked over to her and put his arm around her shoulder._

_"No I don't." he said, smiling at her. "Believe me, I've seen some players for the Olympic team that you could beat right now."_

_"Thank you, Sir." she said, smiling at him. He continued to look at her for a moment before moving away, letting his hand trail down her back..._

_...and grip her butt._

_"Um...Sir?" she asked him, causing him to turn back to her after having stepped away._

_"Yes?" he asked, his face showing confusion._

_"...nothing." she replied. He continued looking at her before turning away to go collect the ball. She tried to calm her breathing. It had to have been an accident._

_Right?_

"...Suzui..."

_"Get off of me!" she screamed, trying to kick him away. She knew the touches weren't accidents. She knew all the times he grabbed her butt, ran his hands along the sides of her breast, rested his hand on her upper thigh, she knew that he was molesting her. She had tried to ignore it. Her parents had told her to ignore it, since it would lead her to the Olympics. She knew if she could just put up with three years of it, she would then never have to see him again._

_But this..._

_...this was different._

_"You don't kick me, bitch." he said, grabbing her and throwing her down on her stomach. She quickly tried to turn back around before he stopped her, pinning her arms behind her back. He pushed her knees forward and pulled down her pants. She inhaled sharply when she felt his hand start to rub against the crotch of her panties._

_"Please...don't do this!"_

_"So you don't want this?" he asked, still rubbing her. "You never said anything about me touching you before. Why now?"_

_"I never wanted you to touch me!"_

_"Well, I would never do something that someone doesn't want me to do." he said, moving his hand away from her crotch. "So I'll tell you what. I'll let you go, on one condition."_

_"What?"_

_"You get your little friend Takamaki to take your place." he replied cheerfully, causing her gasp._

_"Ann..." she trailed off, trying not to sob._

_"That's right. Takamaki Ann." he said, moving so that she could see him. "So, who will it be? You? Or your friend?"_

_She could end this._

_She could escape._

_All she had to do was say Ann's name._

_All she had to do was convince Ann to show up, and she'd be free from Kamoshida._

_And Ann would take her place._

_"Are you going to answer me?" Kamoshida asked, his voice dark._

_She felt a sob get stuck in her throat as she opened her mouth. She closed it when nothing came out, feeling tears start to flow from her face at the thought of what she was about to do._

_"...not Ann."_

_"Well then!" Kamoshdia asid, his voice cheerful. "That means you consent to this."_

_As she felt him pull her panties down, she closed her eyes and started to sob._

"...Shiho!"

Her eyes snapped open, only for her to recoil in fear at the person standing in front of her. He quickly took off his mask and started to move toward her. He stopped after a moment and moved back.

"Suzui, it's me." he said, looking toward his left for a moment. "It's me. Akira."

"Akira." she said, trying to get her breathing under control. She noticed how much it hurt to breath, but didn't know why. "Ann's classmate."

"That's right." he said, turning to look to his left once again. "Morgana, heal her!"

"It won't work as well on her as it would on you guys." the talking monster cat said, walking over. "She doesn't have powers like you guys do."

"I don't care. Heal her anyways." Akira said, turning back to her. "Once you're good to go, we need to move. Do you remember what happened?"

"Remember..." she muttered as the cat thing started to cast something on her. She noticed that it became a lot easier to breath after a moment. "We were ambushed. They threw me into a wall. They captured Ann."

"That's right." he said. "We need to go save her." he continued, standing up and reaching a hand out. "Can you stand?"

"I...yeah." she said, slowing reaching for his hand. He helped pull her up, and she immediately dropped his hand once standing. She looked around for a moment, realizing someone else was missing. "Where's Sakamoto?"

"Over here." he said, walking up through a doorway. "I found them. You know that locked room that had a bunch of suits of armor lining it? They went down there. I haven't seen any Shadows between here and there, either. I think they may all be in there with them."

"That may also mean Shadow Kamoshida is in there as well." Morgana said, causing them to look down at him. He looked up at Shiho. "You may end up having your awakening while we're in there. You should prepare yourself in case it does happen."

"I'm ready." she said, trying once again to get the feeling of his hands off of her.

"Then let's go." Akira said, moving forward. Shiho moved up behind him, and noticed Ryuji and Morgana get on either side of her. She pushed down the uneasy feeling it brought up in her, knowing that they were like that in order to protect her. They weren't doing it to trap her. Even though being alone with just the three of them made her just as afraid as being alone with Kamoshida, something inside of her told her she was safe.

As the approached the hallway, they heard Ann screaming and cursing Kamoshida. Akira took a knee by the door and opened it slightly, peeking in. He closed it after a moment and turned to face the rest of them.

"Shadow Kamoshida is in there with about a dozen Shadows." he said. "Ann is tied to an X-frame near the back of the room. Also..." he trailed off, turning to look at her.

"What is it?" she asked, causing him to let out a small sigh.

"The entire room seems to be made from his sexual desires." he said, causing her heart to skip a beat in fear as she felt his hands on her again. "There are a lot of nude female cognitions in there."

"Of course the effin' bastard has a room full of naked women." Ryuji muttered.

"You don't have to go in there." Akira said, still looking at her.

"I'm going in there." she said, her voice firm. "If I get these powers like you have, great. If not, I can at least free Ann while you three cover me."

"Then let's go." he said, pushing the door open. They moved in, not bothering to go for cover. Shiho felt her face flush at what the cognitions were doing. She noticed it was all the members of the female volleyball team, even those who had already graduated. All of them were naked and rubbing against each other.

"Shiho!" Ann yelled, drawing her attention.

"Ann!" she yelled back. She forced herself to not run over as Shadow Kamoshida turned to face them.

"Well, look who we have here." he said, his voice distorted. "If it isn't my new favorite whore."

"Don't call her that, you effin' piece of shit!" Ryuji yelled, getting into a defensive position.

"Shut your mouth, peasant!" Shadow Kamoshida yelled back, turning to face him. "Lowly peasants such as yourselves have no right to raise your voices to me."

"...I'm not a whore..." she muttered, closing in on herself. The moment she saw him, she felt everything again. His hands, his mouth, his...

"We can do this easy way, or the hard way." Akira said, his voice calm.

"Well, I know of two that like it the hard way." Shadow Kamoshida said, a smirk growing on his face. They took a step back in shock as cognitive forms of Ann and Shiho walked out from behind him. They wrapped their arms around him and started to rub their bodies against his.

"King Kamoshida, when will you grace me again?" the cognitive Shiho asked, looking across at the cognitive Ann. "Am I not good enough for you?"

"Don't worry, you peasant whore." he said, smiling at her. "Soon, I'll make sure to have both of you."

"...I'm not a whore..." Shiho muttered again, louder this time. She felt a pressure start to form in her head, and reached a hand up to press against the spot.

"King Kamoshida is manly enough to take us both, you peasant." cognitive Ann said, her voice sounding like she was drugged.

"Normally, I wouldn't." he said. "But I'll make an except for you, my little peasant whore."

"...don't call me that..." Shiho said, the pressure in her head growing worse. It felt like a migraine. "I'm not a whore."

"After all..." he said, trailing off while turning to look at her. "For a peasant whore, you really were a pretty good fuck. A bit of training, and maybe you could even work your way up to joining your friend in having the honor of regularly servicing me."

"Don't call me that!" Shiho yelled, looking at him. "I'm not a whore, you piece of shit!"

**_So...have you decided?_ **

Shiho grasped her head and screamed as the voice rang out and the pain exploded, causing everyone to turn to her. Shadow Kamoshida took a step back in fear as a powerful wind started to surround her.

**_We were almost not allowed to play. A different time, a different universe, and the chance for us to meet would have passed us by. Your ability to call out to me would have been forever taken away from you. Yet, you have managed to avoid that fate. So tell me...are you just accepting your place as this man's toy? Or will you prove that you are one to be feared?_ **

"I am not his toy. I will make him fear me." she said, looking up at Shadow Kamoshida to glare at him. "You _will_ fear me."

**_That is what I have been waiting to hear. I am thou. Thou art I. We have had so much stolen from us already. Now we will make sure they never forget our name and the fear we will make them feel. The contract that we form will be feared by all like him until the end of time._ **

She reached up and grabbed the mask that appeared on her face. She took a deep breath and pulled, ripping the mask off in a flow of blood.

"Come to me, Anastasia!"


	2. Revanche

Liberating.

Had someone asked her what it felt like when she ripped the mask that appeared on her face off, she would have replied that it felt liberating. Kamoshida had taken so much away from her, and yet when she used this power for the first time it was freeing. She felt the presence of...something...behind her, but did not bother to look. All that mattered to her right now was the scared look on Kamoshida's face. A golden knight quickly took his place, standing in front of him.

"You dare threaten King Kamoshida!?" it yelled, getting her to let out a sneer.

"I plan to do a lot more than threaten." she said, glaring at him.

"Such a mouth on you for nothing more than a worthless whore." Kamoshida said, his voice wavering slightly. "Guards, kill them!"

"You ready for this?" Akira asked her as three of the knights started to shake and dissolve into a black mass on the floor.

"I am." she said, nodding her head as the mass turned into a monster.

Sitting on a toilet.

"Dude...is this seriously fo'real?" Ryuji asked, shaking his head.

"Who cares." Shiho said, her eyes hardening. "You'll help me through this, won't you?"

"Of course." Akira said, reaching up for his mask. She watched as he ripped it off his face, watching in awe as the blood burned away in a blue flame as a large...thing appeared behind him. "Eiha!" he yelled. The thing standing behind him crossed its arms before quickly uncrossing them, letting out a small ball of black energy. It struck the toilet monster and seemed to do nothing.

"When you pull your mask off, the skills you can use will become known!" Morgana yelled. "Just pick one that can be used to attack. Garu!" he yelled again as a stylized figured that looked like some type of swordsman appeared behind him. It swung its sword out as a blast of wind shot out and hit the monster. Again, it seemed to do nothing.

"Damn you!" Ryuji yelled, pulling a gun from out of nowhere. He fired a few times, causing her ears to ring. It seemed to at least hurt the monster, but nowhere near as much as he looked like he wanted it to hurt the thing. "What gives with this thing!?"

"Touch my mask and..." she trailed off, reaching up for it. She felt knowledge start to flow in her mind. She focused as one word appeared. "Megido!" she yelled, ripping the mask off. She felt warmth of the flames burning the blood off her face as a pinprick of light formed on the monster. It quickly grew into a ball of energy before exploding outward. Instead of doing any noticeable damage, however, it seemed to heal the thing.

"That's an Almighty attack." Morgana muttered. "They're not supposed to be blocked or drained by anything."

"After all that and you're proving to be nothing more than a worthless little whore." Kamoshida said, taking a few steps forward. "Considering how quickly you spread your legs for your betters, I really shouldn't have suspected anything different from you."

"Leave her alone, you rapist!" Ann yelled, drawing his attention.

"You dare raise your voice to me?" he asked, his voice low. "I am King Kamoshida! You don't tell me what to do, bitch!"

"Shut up shut up shut up!" she screamed at him.

"You're not even worth dealing with." he said, turning away from her and looking at one of the remaining knights standing in the room. "Guard, kill her!"

"Ann!" Shiho yelled as the knight walked over and swung its sword down at her.

-

For Ann, nothing over the past hour made any sense. From the moment Shiho convinced her to follow her and Akira outside into an alleyway, finding Ryuji there waiting for them, finding out they had some kind of weird powers, finding out Shiho had been raped, everything had been going too fast. She had followed them in hopes of protecting Shiho, but as they made their way through this castle she knew that she was out of her depth.

Then, the ambush happened.

She tried to fight them off, but all she ended up doing was damaging her hands. Being tied to this X-frame allowed the blood to run down her jacket sleeves, staining her clothes in red. She had screamed insults at Kamoshida, knowing that the monster cat had said something about being able to gain powers like Akira and Ryuji. However, nothing came from it.

She watched as the group ran into the room, trading words with Kamoshida before Shiho snapped. She watched as her best friend ripped the top half of her face off before being engulfed in blue flames. The flames quickly vanished, leaving her standing there in what looked like an old-style military uniform with a large woman standing behind her. She watched as they tried to fight the...thing sitting on a flying toilet only for nothing to work.

"After all that and you're proving to be nothing more than a worthless little whore." Kamoshia said, taking a few steps towards them. " Considering how quickly you spread your legs for your betters, I really shouldn't have suspected anything different from you."

"Leave her alone, you rapist!" Ann yelled, drawing his attention. She felt a strong pressure start to form behind her eyes, but managed to put it off in her anger.

"You dare raise your voice to me?" he asked, his voice low. "I am King Kamoshida! You don't tell me what to do, bitch!"

"Shut up shut up shut up!" she screamed at him, the pain starting to become unbearable.

"You're not even worth dealing with." he said, turning away from her and looking at one of the remaining knights standing in the room. "Guard, kill her!"

"Ann!" Shiho yelled as the knight walked over and swung its sword down at her. Ann looked up as the sword approached her, knowing it would cut her in half. It stopped, however, when it struck a blue shield that formed around her.

**_My, it's taken far too long._ **

Ann gasped as the pain behind her eyes exploded. She hadn't felt anything as painful as that before, and started to struggle against the restraints holding her. She felt the wounds on her hands reopen as the skin on her wrist tore.

**_Tell me, who would have avenged her if you didn't? Forgiving him was never the option. Such is the scream of the other you that dwells within. I am thou, thou art I. We can finally forge a contract._ **

"I hear you...Carmen." she said softly, the pain fading as she fell slack against her restraints. "You're right. No more holding back!" she yelled, feeling the restraints holding her get burned away.

**_There you go. Nothing can be solved by restraining yourself. Understand? Then I'll gladly lend you my strength._ **

With one final scream, she reached up and pulled the mask that had appeared off her face. She felt the warm flames engulf her, healing her wounds as they did so. She looked toward the guard that had tried to kill her and kicked the sword out of his hand. She jumped up and grabbed it before using her momentum to kill the fakes of Shiho and herself. Part of her knew that what she had just done should not be possible, but she knew that it was something she would be able to worry about later.

Right now, she had something else to worry about.

"You know what?" she asked, turning to face Kamoshida while dropping the sword. She noticed the rest of the group coming up next to her as a show of force. "We're not some cheap girls you can toy with, you scumbag."

"Bitch!" Kamoshida shot back.

"You stole everything from Shiho. You tried to destroy her. Now it's your turn!" she yelled, pointing at him. "We will rob you of everything!"

As the other two knights formed another monster riding a flying toilet, she reached her hand up to her mask. Just like the cat had said, she felt the knowledge of a word form in her mind. She ripped the mask off her face as she yelled the word. "Agi!"

A ball of fire burned one of the monsters, causing it to fall to the ground. She felt elated and looked toward the other monster. "Agi!" she screamed again, causing it to fall as well.

"They're both down!" the cat yelled. She noticed Akira and Ryuji approach them with their guns drawn. She wished to do the same, and felt the whip in her hand form into a handle. She looked down to see a small gun had formed. She approached as well, noticing Shiho walking up with her armed with some kind of long rifle.

"Any last words?" Akira asked, looking at them.

"We have nothing to say to dummies like you." one of them snapped.

"They don't seem very talkative." the cat said.

"Very well." he replied, doing a back flip. "Let's finish this!"

With those words, they all jumped forward, attacking. She punched and kicked and whipped the two monsters with everything she had, wishing they were Kamoshida instead. She refused to let up the assault, and felt a thrill of pleasure shoot through her as both the monsters simply collapsed in on each other. They jumped back and watched as the two dissolved into a black mass and vanished. She turned toward where Kamoshida had been standing, only to find that he had run off. They stood there panting for a moment trying to catch their breaths before both Ann and Shiho collapsed against each other.

"You weren't kidding when you said it would hurt." Shiho said, causing Ann to nod in agreement.

"You both did better than this vulgar monkey over here, Lady Ann." the cat said.

"What was that!?" Ryuji snapped, raising his fist at it.

" _Lady_ Ann?" she asked, looking toward it.

"I think it fits." Shiho said softly, causing her to look at her in shock.

"By the way, what's with your outfit?" Ann asked, causing Shiho to look down at herself. "It looks like some old Soviet era military uniform I saw once while in Europe."

"Our outfits are our reflection of our inner rebels." the cat said again.

"Our inner rebels?" she asked, finally looking down at herself. She felt her cheeks flush at what she saw. "Wait...what the hell am I wearing!?" she yelled, covering herself.

"I think it looks nice." Shiho said, causing Ann to glare at her. She simply let out a giggle.

"We can explain more later." Akira said, looking up toward the door Kamoshida had run out of for a moment before looking back down at them. "Can you two walk?"

"We should be fine." Shiho said, standing up. She reached her hand down to Ann. She took it and stood up as well.

"Let's get out of here." he said, nodding his head toward the door they had come in from. "We'll meet up on the roof tomorrow and discuss how to move forward now that there are five of us."

With no one arguing against him, the group slowly made their way out.

-

EVENING

-

It was close to ten at night, and already Shiho felt everything from the past two days burdening down on her. The previous night, she had been unable to sleep. Her dreams already featured nightmares brought on by Kamoshida's near-constant molestations. Having him outright rape her was something else. While she had nightmares where he would take the molestation to rape, the actual act itself blew right past what nightmares could ever hope to conjure.

She hadn't been able to sleep the previous night. Every time she had closed her eyes for more than a moment, she could see Kamoshida looming over her. The few moments when she managed to doze off for a few minutes, her mind replayed her rape for her in graphic detail. She very much doubted if she managed to get even a half hour of sleep the night before. Combine that with the physical exhaustion of what she had gone through during what they referred to as her "Awakening" and she was struggling to keep her eyes open.

**_You need to sleep._ **

She sat upright at the voice in her head. She looked around for a moment, before swallowing and opening her mouth.

"Anastasia?" she asked softly, the uncertainty obvious in her voice.

**_Yes._ **

"You...can speak to me?" she asked. "Outside of that place, I mean?"

**_I can. As I said, I am thou, and thou art I. Now that you have awaken to me, I will forever be with you. Now, you must sleep. Your body needs to heal from what has happened to you. That will never happen if you do not sleep._ **

"I don't want to sleep." she said, shaking her head. "I don't...I can't..."

**_You can. You will never need to worry about seeing that man in your dreams again. I promise._ **

"I'll never see him again?" she asked, feeling her eyes grow heavy. She tried to fight it off, knowing what she would see and feel as soon as they closed.

**_Never again._ **

Her eyes closed, and sleep overtook her a moment later.

She dreamed of Ann, and better times in a future she truly hoped may one day come true.

-

"So...this is really where I'll be staying?" Morgana asked after Sojiro left for the night. Akira simply looked toward him and raised an eyebrow.

"Considering you invited yourself to stay with me? Yes, this is where I stay, thus this is where you will be staying as long as you are with me."

"I'm just more surprised that you're staying here of all places." he said, stretching on the floor before sitting and looking around. "I mean, like I said, it's spacious. But...why not a normal room in a house? Why are you sleeping in the attic of some cafe?"

"This is where I've been sent." he said, shrugging.

"But why were you sent here?" he asked as Akira started to pull some clothes from a large cardboard box. Akira let out a sigh and started walking down the stairs. He paused when they were eye-level and looked at him.

"I'm here because I was in the right place at the right time." he said, his voice dead. "No one else sees it that way, though."

With that, he continued walking downstairs and made his way into the small attached bathroom. He locked himself inside and looked into the mirror.

**_Are you doubting yourself again?_ **

"No." he muttered. He started to undress, knowing Arsène would probably have more to say about that. He wasn't disappointed.

**_Yes, you are. You've been doubting yourself ever since you stopped the girl from jumping. You see another woman that you were not able to save from a fate such as hers._ **

"So what if that's how I see it?" he asked softly, starting to put his sleep clothes on. "I can't exactly change the past now, can I?" he asked. He heard Arsène's sarcastic laugh reverberate inside his head.

**_No, you cannot._ **

"Then I see no reason to bother with it." he said, grabbing his dirty clothes. He opened the door and made his way back up the stairs. He looked over as he entered the attic to find Morgana lying on his bed. He simply shook his head and started to put his stuff away.

"So...I take it you won't talk about what you meant?" Morgana asked as he stood up. Akira walked over to the bed and sat down. He laid down and sighed.

"I tried to help a woman." he said, his voice almost monotone. "The guy trying to force himself on her was drunk, and tripped on his own two feet. When the police showed up, she lied about what happened. I was arrested for assault, and so far as I know he still forced himself on her since they got in the same car together."

"Joker…" Morgana muttered, causing him to look at him while raising an eyebrow.

"Joker?"

"We're going to need codenames when we go into that Palace." Morgana explained. "You're our trump card, our wildcard, our Joker."

"Joker, huh?" he muttered, smirking slightly. He felt himself growing tired and closed his eyes. "Why not."

Sleep quickly overtook him.

-

He opened his eyes, once again hearing the soft piano and solo voice coming from somewhere while he looked up at an old brick prison ceiling. He sat up and rubbed his head for a moment before standing up. He made his way over toward the cell door as quickly as the old ball and chain would allow him, looking out toward the long-nosed man sitting behind an extravagant desk.

"Once again, welcome to my Velvet Room." Igor said with his deep voice and ever present smile. He tried to ignore the feeling that something wasn't right. After all, it wasn't like anything that happened here made any damn sense anyways.

"Our Master has words of kindness for you, Inmate." Caroline said, hitting the cell door with her baton.

"Please, listen closely." Justine continued, looking at him before turning back to Igor.

"It seems you have already managed to sway and change the fates." Igor said, stapling his hands together in front of himself. "Saving the Aeon arcana was something thought impossible. Once again, you have proven to be one who can be at the right place at the right time."

"That's a good thing, right?" he asked, getting Igor to give an evil sounding chuckle.

"We will have to wait and see." he replied as an alarm sounded. Akira started to slide down against the door, and felt sleep take him over once again. "Until we meet again, Trickster."

-

Saturday, 4/16

-

AFTER SCHOOL

-

The final bell rang for the day, ending homeroom. Around them, students started to pack up their bags in order to leave. Hashino Shoji, however, was busy watching Kurusu. He knew no one else mentioned it, but he knew for a fact that he had heard it. He watched closely as Kurusu leaned forward and mentioned something to Takamaki. She nodded slightly and got up, heading out of the classroom. Kurusu sat there a moment and, there it was!

Meowing.

"That's right, Morgana." Kurusu said softly. He could barely hear him over the noise in the classroom. "We'll give her a minute head start and then make our way up."

This was answered by even more meowing.

"I know you'd like to go with her, but that's not happening."

There was more meowing, this time almost sounding annoyed.

"I don't think 'Lady Ann' would enjoy having you around her all day and all night. I really doubt she would be alright with you sleeping on her either."

As he heard more meowing, Shoji started to question his sanity.

"I hate to say this, Morgana, but I'm pretty sure Suzui beats you there." Kurusu said, grabbing his bag. He opened it in front of him and Shoji noticed a black cat jump into it. He quickly turned and looked out the window as Kurusu stood up. He felt the transfer student looking down at him for a moment before walking off. He let out a small sigh and turned to look at him, only to see the cat looking out of the bag and directly at him.

That was by far the most interesting event to have ever happened to him.

-

"That student who sits behind you noticed me, Joker." Morgana said after they walked out of the classroom. "He knows that I'm here."

"Yeah, and who's fault do you think that is, you damn cat." they heard Ryuji say as he came up behind them. "Stop poking you head out of the bag, moron."

"We'll wait and see what he does." Akira said as Morgana hid himself fully inside his bag, walking up toward the roof. "Worst comes worst, I'll just say you're an emotional support pet or something."

"I am _not_ a pet!" Morgana said, his voice muffled inside the bag.

"If it allows me to continue bringing you with me, you'll play the part of a pet and like it." Akira said, his voice firm. "Now, any thoughts on how we should run this meeting?"

"Honestly, I'd say just have the emotional support pet explain things as simply as possible." Ryuji replied, a grin on his face. "Other than trying to decide when to head back in, we should be good to go for the most part, right? When are we going back in?"

"I was thinking we'll go back on Monday." he answered, knowing that Morgana was listening in just as much as Ryuji. "Right now, Shiho is in the most danger. Kamoshida can't do anything to her outside of the school. Most he could do is verbally pestering her, as well as Ann. Monday, as soon as school ends, we go into his Palace."

"Kamoshida will probably try and do anything he can to keep Shiho in his sights, though." Ryuji replied. "That bastard likes to cover the entrance right after school to make sure his personal punching bags don't leave."

"He has to go to the gym eventually, right?" Morgana asked as they neared the door to the roof. "Couldn't she and Lady Ann hide in the girls restroom or something until he makes his way there?"

"I suppose that could work."

"Well, no time like the present to start it then." Akira said, reaching the door. He opened it and walked out, hearing Ryuji follow him and close the door behind them. He looked over and smiled slightly at the rested look on Shiho's face. She had looked dead when he saw her this time yesterday. While he knew the psychological damage of what happened to her would take years to heal, if it ever did, he could at least tell she was now on that path.

Hopefully being part of taking down Kamoshida would help her as well.

"So...I take it we have a lot to discuss, correct?" Ann asked as both Shiho and herself looked up at them. Akira nodded his head as Morgana leapt out of his bag and onto the ground, taking a literal weight off his shoulder. He never thought of a cat as being heavy, but he figured his shoulder would be sore for the next few weeks as he tried to get used to carrying around the cat.

"That's right, Lady Ann." Morgana said, stretching before sitting down. He licked his paw and brushed the back of his head with it before looking up at them.

"Telling you, Dude...totally not a human." Ryuji whispered to him, getting him to silently agree.

"Unfortunately, some things will have to be taught as we go along." Morgana said, looking around at them. "While I do know of a place where we could get experience in a more...controlled...environment, I also understand that we really don't have the luxury of time. Based on his cognition, it's pretty apparent that he is aiming to have both Lady Ann and her friend 'serve' him."

"So then what do we do?" Ann asked, getting their attention. "He's been trying to contact me since yesterday evening. I keep coming up with excuses, but eventually he's going to force a response, especially with what he's already done to Shiho."

"If he does that, hide." Shiho said, getting Ann to face her. "We'll get a room somewhere until we can change his heart or whatever we call it. I don't even care if we have to stay in a love hotel together."

"Shiho…" Ann trailed off.

"Right now, our job is to make sure it doesn't come to that." Akira said, drawing their attention. "As Morgana said, we don't have the luxury of waiting and taking our time. We need to push ourselves hard. What can you tell us, Morgana?"

"As I said yesterday, in order to make him change we will need to steal his treasure. This is a manifestation of his desires, I think." Morgana said, causing Ryuji to roll his eyes. "Stealing it won't be easy. We'll need to explore and secure a route to the treasure. That's the easy part."

"What's the hard part?" Shiho asked.

"Once we find it, we can't steal it." he replied, causing Ryuji to let out a disgusted sigh.

"Then how the hell are we supposed to make that jackass change, you damn cat?"

"If you would have not interrupted me, you'd know!" Morgana shot back. "Like I said, finding the treasure is the easy part. The hard part is that we have to make the _real_ Kamoshida believe that it can be stolen. We'd have to tell him that we were going to steal his desires and make him confess his crimes. Even if he refuses to acknowledge that it's possible, his cognitive self _will_ know it's possible. We'll then have to make our way to where his treasure is, using the route we previously secured. Only then can we steal his treasure. However, he won't make it easy. The heat on us in there will be insane."

"So let me get this straight." Ryuji said, looking at him. "We have to walk up to Kamoshida and outright _tell_ him that we're going to make him change!? Are you effin' insane!?"

"If you want to throw your life away and do that, don't let me stop you." Morgana said, turning to look at him. "Or, if you'd rather do something smart, we can do it properly. We send him a calling card."

"A calling card?" Ann asked. "Like...an actual calling card?"

"That would be the best way to stay out of the public's eyes." he said. "We'll be protected since he won't be able to tell who sent it, and it will also serve to cause his treasure to manifest. It's the perfect solution. After all, we're basically going to be thieves."

"I suppose that makes sense." she said, nodding her head. "Okay, what else do we need to know?"

"Like I said yesterday, you can not under any circumstances kill his shadow." he said, giving all of them a hard look. "Doing so will kill the real Kamoshida. I know he probably deserves it, but we can't kill him."

"I don't think we should anyways." Ann said, her face hardening. "He'll go to jail where he will be known as a person who raped teenagers. Death would be far too quick for him."

"I'll agree to that." Shiho said, her eyes growing dark. "He can see what it's like."

"I guess that's a fitting punishment." Ryuji said, his voice breaking a little. While Akira was able to keep his calm a lot better, he was also nervous being with two very pissed off women. "Alright Mona-Mona. Anything else we need to be aware of?"

"My name is Morgana!" he yelled, standing up and hissing at Ryuji. He calmed down after a moment and continued to glare at Ryuji before letting out a sigh. "Well, it at least brings up another point. We can't go around calling each other our real names inside the Palace. It could be very bad."

"Define 'very bad' for us please." Akira asked.

"It won't be good to be running around and yelling each-other's names." he replied, sitting back down. "There's a chance it could imprint our names into our target. While I don't know what that would end up doing in the long run, I do know that it would be a bad idea to try it. Also, we're thieves. What thief do you know of that uses their own name?"

"Sounds like eighth-grader syndrome to me." Shiho said, smirking.

"What's that?" Morgana asked, turning to look at Akira. He simply smirked as well. He started to chuckle darkly, trying to remember what he had used to say.

" _So, at last our paths have finally crossed!_ " he said, placing his hand over one eye. He noticed it was causing the group to look at him in shock. " _I am the Black Fire Ruler! Perish and begone, engulfed in the fire which is as black as my soul!_ " he finished, swinging his arm out toward them. They stood there for a moment before the group started laughing at him.

"Dude, what the eff!?" Ryuji asked, starting to cry from laughing so hard. "You had eighth-grader syndrome that bad!?"

"So I guess we'll call you the Black Fire Ruler while we're there!" Ann said, trying to get her laughter under control.

"All I know is that black ball of energy you used sure looked like fire as black as your soul." Shiho said, leaning against Ann to try and keep herself upright while laughing just as hard as Ryuji. While he would never say it, he was at least glad his embarrassment at reciting those lines again was enough to make her laugh.

"Why are you laughing at him?" Morgana asked, looking at the rest of the group. "I thought Joker was pretty cool."

"Joker?" Ann asked, mostly getting her laughing under some form of control for the moment.

"His codename that I picked for him." Morgana said.

"Okay then." Ryuji said, wiping the tears from his eyes. "What's my codename?"

"Monkey." Morgana said with no hesitation.

"So I take it yours is Cat then?" he asked, his voice taking an edge.

"No, it's not!" he yelled, standing up again. "I will be...uh...Prince! That was what Boss wanted to call me, so I'll be Prince."

"No." Ryuji said, shaking his head. "You can be Mona."

"Seriously?" he asked, tilting his head at him. "What kind of codename is that?"

"I think it's cute." Ann said, getting him to turn toward him.

"Cute?" he asked, his voice going up an octave.

"Yep!" she said, smiling brightly. "We'll call you Mona from now on.""If...if you say so, Lady Ann."

"So, we have Joker and Mona." Ryuji said, looking at them. "I know! I'll be Skull!"

"So...we'll call you Numb-skull then." Morgana said, causing Ryuji to glare at him.

"I said my name will be Skull, damn it!"

"So Joker, Mona, and now Skull." Akira said, breaking off their argument. He saw Ryuji give him a smile in thanks while Morgana simply groaned. "How about you two?" he asked, turning to look at Ann and Shiho.

"So...you know how Ann's outfit is totally a cat-suit?" Shiho asked, causing Ann to groan. "How about something cat related?"

"She's a real cougar, so how about that?" Morgana asked, causing Ryuji to laugh.

"What!?" Ann yelled, causing Shiho to chuckle as well. "We are _not_ naming me that!"

"I agree." Shiho said. "I was thinking something more like Panther."

"Panther?" she asked, turning to look at her. She nodded her head. "I guess that's okay."

"So that now just leaves you." Morgana said, looking at Shiho.

"Revanche." she said.

"Revanche?" Ryuji asked, scratching his head. "What's that?"

"It's a French word meaning vengeance." she said, looking at them. "I'm doing this to get my revenge on Kamoshida. I'm doing this to get vengeance for myself and everyone else he's abused. We may not kill him, but I'm going to make sure he wishes we had."

"Joker, Mona, Skull, Panther, and Revanche." Akira said, looking at each of them in turn. "We'll steal his treasure, and force him to have a change of heart. We'll get vengeance on him for everyone he hurt."

"Well spoken, Joker." Mona said, getting him to nod his head.

"I'm thinking we'll start on Monday." Akira said, still having their attention. "This will give us the rest of today and tomorrow to prepare. We'll need medical supplies for sure. Anything else you can think of?" he asked, looking down at Morgana.

"If you can find something to help with your mental abilities, it would greatly help." he said. "Using our Personas in there can be mentally draining. If we can find something that will help us with that, we can do more."

"I suppose we can look around." he said, wondering what would help. "Maybe try and find some caffeine. That might help."

"Another thing will be our weapons." Morgana continued. "Right now, our current weapons are fine. However, we'll need more powerful weapons, probably at least by the time we move to steal Kamoshida's treasure. Maybe some armor as well, if we can find some."

"Okay." he said, looking up at the rest of the group. "So, since I'm not from here...anyone know where we can find weapons?"

"I might know of a place." Ryuji said. "It's in Shibuya. We can head there today or tomorrow if you want."

"You should go today." Shiho said, drawing their attention. "Get some prices, and we can all pitch in tomorrow to get some stuff."

"Today it is then." Akira said before turning toward Morgana. "Anything else?"

"No." he answered, shaking his head. "That should cover everything."

"Alright." he said, rolling his head. "We'll meet in the alleyway on Monday after school. Ann, Shiho, we were thinking you two could hide out in one of the girls restrooms until Kamoshida heads for the gym. That way you'll be able to get out and we can enter his Palace before he can try and stop you two. We'll push as hard as we can and try and finish this as quickly as possible. Agreed?"

"Sounds good." Ann said while Shiho nodded in agreement.

"Alright." he said again. "Ryuji, Morgana, let's go find this store." he said, turning to walk toward the door. He took a few steps before stopping, turning around to look at Ann and Shiho again. "One more thing. Be careful around Mishima."

"Mishima?" Ann asked, cocking her head slightly in confusion. He nodded his head as he noticed Shiho tense up slightly at the name.

"Kamoshida is using him as a fall-guy." he said. "He's blackmailing him to get you to go to him. Upon getting you to go to Kamoshida, the asshole promised him Shiho. If he fails, Kamoshida is planning on turning in Mishima as the one who raped Shiho."

"That would be a mistake." Shiho said, shaking her head. "That would draw the police into the matter, and I'd tell them the truth. It has to be a bluff."

"We may not have the option of calling it, though." he replied, turning to look at her. "One way or the other, Mishima believes it to be a real threat. Kamoshida told him this yesterday. That was why I was on the roof. Had you jumped, or something else happens to you, then you'd be unable to tell anyone what really happened. There's a very real chance Kamoshida could just take that option away from you, and then that would be the end of it."

"Okay." Ann said, getting Shiho to look at her. "We'll avoid him until this is taken care of. Sound good, Shiho?" she asked, turning to look at her.

"Yeah." Shiho replied, nodding her head.

"Good." Akira said, turning back to the door. "Give us a few minutes before you head down. Let's go, Ryuji."

-

A little while later saw Akira standing outside one of the sketchiest looking stores he had ever seen that didn't sell porn (although, seeing as he had yet to enter the business, he figured he may yet be surprised by that as well). He also did his best to ignore the strange feeling he had from the corner. It felt...very familiar. It almost reminded him of that Velvet Room place he kept entering in his dreams. He didn't know why he would feel it in a random alleyway corner in Shibuya, but he tried not to think about it.

"This is the place." Ryuji said, looking towards him. "Let's go in." he said, opening the door and stepping in. Akira followed him, closing the door behind himself. The room was kept low-lit, with a mysterious sounding song playing in the background. Standing at the counter was a young woman about their age wearing a pink sweater, with what had to be the floofiest hair he had ever seen.

"Up the bounty to five hundred." she said, causing the man behind the counter to raise an eyebrow.

"Five hundred, huh?" he asked, scratching his chin. "That will up the attention, if nothing else."

"I'm aware I may have to up it again, but I really do wish to have a full-metal MILKOR." she said, picking up the two _grenade launchers_ sitting on the counter. "I do believe I will still take these, however."

"I'll go get the boxes for them." the man said, turning to face the two of them. "I'll be with you two in a moment." he said, causing the girl to turn and face them.

"Oh, hello!" she said, bowing to them. "You're also Shujin students?"

"Uh...yeah." Ryuji said, scratching his head. "I'm Sakamoto Ryuji."

"Kurusu Akira." he said, introducing himself with a slight bow.

"I'm Okumura Haru, a third-year." she said.

"So then you're our senpai." he said.

"I guess so." she replied, her voice cheerful.

"So, uh, trying to find a MILKOR?" Ryuji asked after a moment.

"I am!" she said, bouncing on the tips of her feet for a moment. "I just love how it can hold multiple grenades without having to reload. I know these are not real ones, but even having ones that fire plastic BBs would be enough. Do you have one? They seem to be sold out all over. Even Iwai can't get a hold of one. Anyways, I'm offering five hundred thousand yen for one."

"No...but right now I wish I did have one." Ryuji replied, his eyes having widened. Akira couldn't blame him. He didn't even know what a MILKOR was other than apparently some kind of grenade launcher, but he wanted one right now as well. Half a million yen was a lot of money, after all.

"Alright, here you go." the man behind the counter, walking back out from a back room. He took the two grenade launchers and put them in their boxes. "That'll be seventy-five thousand yen."

"Thank you!" she said, pulling out her wallet from her purse. They watched as she opened it up and pulled out a wad of bills. She counted them out and handed them to the man before replacing what was left in her wallet. She put it back in her purse and picked up the two boxes. She made her way for the door, stopping to nod at the two of them. "I know this may seem a weird request, but if possible could you keep the fact that I was here a secret please?"

"Yeah, I guess we can." Akira said while Ryuji nodded his head in agreement.

"Thank you!" she said again, smiling at them. With that, she made her way out of the store, leaving the two of them looking on in shock.

"You two just going to continue staring after her, or are you actually planning on buying something?" the man asked, getting their attention. They both walked over and looked at what was out for sale.

"Do you have any kind of armor?" Akira asked, getting the man to tilt his head toward a display at the front of the store.

"Was right there staring you in the face when you walked in." he said, his voice a more gruff with them than it had been with Haru. Then again, she was offering five hundred thousand yen to buy a toy gun and had just dropped seventy-five thousand yen like it was pocket change.

"Of course." he said, looking toward Ryuji. "See what they got, I'll check for weaponry."

"Got it." he said, walking toward the rack of airsoft armor. Akira turned back to the guns on display and noticed several of the same types that they used, as well as what looked like melee weapons. One thing he didn't notice, however, was bolt-action rifles. "I don't suppose you have any bolt-actions, do you?"

"No." he answered bluntly. "I can do special orders, but so few people buy them that I don't see much reason to keep them in stock. I can maybe stock a CheyTac Intervention or a PGM Hécate II and manage to sell it, but it would be sitting there a long time collecting dust. Only die-hard enthusiast buy them, and they cost a lot of money."

"I see." Akira said, looking down at the other items. Ryuji walked up to him at that time with a sigh.

"We're looking at close to fifty thousand yen to outfit all of us." he said, causing Akira to look at him in shock.

"That's...a lot more than I was suspecting." he said.

"Problem?" the man asked.

"No." Akira said, looking back at him. "We're trying to outfit fi...four of us with armor. We didn't think it would be so much, though."

"I see." he said, leaning back against a counter behind him. "You come in here looking for armor and ask about bolt-action rifles. I've also noticed you looking at the selection of training knives and other...items that I carry. You're not trying to get up to anything...illegal...are you?"

"No." Akira said, shaking his head. The man continued to stare at him for a moment before smirking slightly.

"I'll tell you what." he said, crossing his arms in front of himself. "I may need some help around the shop every so often. Maybe even need a...delivery boy. Someone who won't stand out, so that cuts your friend here out. You agree to that, and I'll cut you a deal. Do a good enough job, and maybe I'll even stock the occasional bolt-action. How about it? We have a deal?"

Akira met the man's stare for a moment before nodding his head.

"Deal." he agreed. "We'll be back tomorrow after getting the funds from the other two. Today was mostly to get a price and make sure you had what we needed."

"Good." the man said. "Nothing ever wrong with doing some recon. What's your name?"

"Kurusu Akira."

"You can call me Iwai." the man said, standing up again. "I look forward to working together."

"Likewise." Akira said. He gave Iwai a nod and made his way out of the store, hearing Ryuji following him. Once they got outside, he let out a sigh and looked toward the spot he felt the strange feeling from when they walked by earlier.

"I hope he doesn't have you doing anything that's too illegal." Morgana said, popping his head out of his school bag. "I really hope you know what you're getting into, Joker."

"Yeah man, I agree." Ryuji said. "They way he was talking about wanting someone who wouldn't stand out that could be a delivery boy...doesn't that sound like some kinda yakuza?"

"If it gets us the discounts we need, so be it." Akira replied, shaking his head as he ignored the feeling. "Not like half the school doesn't already expect me to be working for the yakuza anyways."

"Dude…" Ryuji trailed off.

"Anyways, we have two options." he continued, turning to look at Ryuji. "We can try stuff that's over the counter and hope that it will work, or try and get some hard medicines. There's a doctor near where I'm staying that I can talk to about trying to get some stimulates from. It may be enough to help us when we're feeling mentally drained. Maybe we can get some better stuff to heal ourselves with as well."

"Let's try and do this without approaching the doctor." Ryuji said after a moment. "Maybe if what we can find in the stores here doesn't help enough, we can get the doctor you know to give us some better stuff."

"Skull has a point, surprisingly." Morgana said. "No sense putting ourselves in any more danger just because. If we need to, then we do. Otherwise it would be a better idea to not draw attention to ourselves."

"Alright." Akira said, looking at Ryuji. "Lead the way."

-

It was late afternoon when the man's phone rang. As he looked down to see who was calling him so close to when he'd be able to go home for the day, the annoyance he was feeling died instantly. He picked up the phone and answered quickly, trying to keep his emotions in check.

"Good afternoon, Sir." Kobayakawa said, his voice taking on a subservient tone that none of the staff would ever believe he would even know how to make.

"I'm hosting two guest in one-week's time." the man on the other end said. "I'd like some entertainment for them. They would prefer a girl who isn't fully broken in yet."

"Of course, Sir." he said, bowing despite the person on the other end not being able to see him. "I will make sure someone is there and ready at the appointed time."

"Good." the man said. "I'll send you the delivery details once they're set in stone."

"Of course, Sir." he said again while needlessly bowing. He heard a click and looked at the phone, realizing the man had hung up on him. He put his phone back on the receiver and let out a sigh. He picked it up after a moment and dialed another number. It rang a few times before it was answered.

"Can I help you, Sir?" Kamoshida answered. Kobayakawa thought he heard muffled crying in the background with a constant slapping sound, and simply shook his head.

"I need a bitch for something next week." he said, his voice hard and nothing like how it was during his earlier phone call. "Preferably one who hasn't had her will broken yet."

"I think I can find someone like that." Kamoshida said. "Next week, you said? I'll make sure she's ready by then for you."

"Good." Kobayakawa said, hanging up. He put the phone back down on the receiver again and let out another sigh. He didn't so much hate having to supply schoolgirls for his benefactors, he just wished he could occasionally partake in them as well.

"Maybe I'll ask for one as payment next time." he said, leaning back in his desk chair, his mind running with fantasies of what he would do with the girl.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've said before that Kobayakawa is easily the weakest point in Persona 5. He's part of the conspiracy...but why? What does he do? While this story won't explore a "why" (unless I change my mind later on and write one), it will explore a hypothetical "what" with said "what" being a pimp. Shido wants some "entertainment" for guest, he calls Kobayakawa and gets some schoolgirls.
> 
> Also, the confidants for the story will be slightly changed. While some parts will remain the same as the game, other aspects will be changed slightly. This is mainly so I'm not sitting here copying and pasting straight from the game.


	3. Infiltration

Monday, 4/18

-

AFTER SCHOOL

-

Knowing that drawing attention to themselves would be the stupidest thing they could possibly do, they all decided to leave alone. By doing this, they hoped that they would be able to avoid any hassle from Kamoshida always volunteering to keep post by the door after school. Already, Ann and Shiho had left for the girl's restroom on the first floor. He had noticed Mishima start walking toward Ann as she quickly left, and figured as long as the two didn't get caught alone with Kamoshida or Mishima they should be fine. Neither one of them could really get away with entering the girl's restroom without a damn good reason.

At least...he hoped so.

With that last thought, he felt his phone vibrate. He pulled it out and looked down to see Ryuji had sent him a message on their new group chat.

**SKULL:** I'm waiting in the alley.

**SKULL:** The asshole's still by the door.

**PANTHER:** We just got into the girl's restroom here on the first floor.

**REVANCHE:** Ann told me Mishima got up quickly to try and approach her. Is that true?

**JOKER:** Yeah, it is.

"I already don't like this Mishima guy." Morgana said, getting Akira's attention. "If he thinks he can steal Lady Ann away, I'll cut his face to shreds."

**JOKER:** Morgana promises to protect you, Ann.

**PANTHER:** Aw! Thank you, Mona!

**SKULL:** So...Kamoshida just left with Kobayakawa.

**SKULL:** This might be a good chance to escape.

**REVANCHE:** We're on our way.

**JOKER:** Same.

With that, Akira put his phone back in his pocket and opened his bag. Morgana quickly jumped inside and he turned to walk away. He noticed the student that sat behind him again looking out the window, and noticed his reflection visible in the mirror. He looked closely and realized that the student wasn't looking out the window, but watching him using his reflection. He nodded his head and noticed the student's eyes widen before he turned and walked out.

"Was that really wise, Joker?" Morgana asked quietly as he made his way down the stairs.

"We'll have to acknowledge him eventually." he replied. "I'd talk with him about it now, but we don't have time to mess around. After we finish this mess with Kamoshida, then we'll move forward with talking with him."

They both remained silent for the rest of the walk. He almost made it to the door when a hand grabbed his should and forcefully spun him around. He found himself looking up into the eyes of Kamoshida, and did his best to remain calm.

"I've heard you sit behind Takamaki Ann in class, correct?" he asked, his voice low.

"That's correct." Akira replied, keeping his voice even.

"Such a shame, her having to sit with her back to a criminal like you." he said, his voice projecting out to everyone in the hallway. He noticed a few students stop and listen in. "You see, I heard that she couldn't wait to get out of the classroom and away from you. I'm sure she must be truly afraid to be stuck in a room with you all day. Isn't that right?"

_"Did he try and get Kamoshida's bitch to cheat on him?"_

_"I wonder if he's trying to blackmail her?"_

_"I wouldn't even be able to concentrate knowing he was sitting right behind me."_

"I can't speak for her, Sir." he replied, doing his best to ignore the students as they continued to gossip around him. He noticed a smirk start to grow on Kamoshida's face the more the students continued to talk about him.

"Oh, I guess I should also apologize." Kamoshida said, his voice becoming playful despite the hard glare he was sending him. "You see, we found out that someone hacked the school's records and leaked everything about you on the school student forums. I guess they decided the student body should know just who would be walking among them."

"I guess so." Akira said, matching Kamoshida's hard glare. "Then again, it's only an assault record. It's not like I did something, like, raping a woman."

"Maybe." Kamoshida said, his voice becoming dark again. "But it's amazing how your actual record became so...muddled in the transfer process. Why, they have you pinned for everything short of trying to assassinate or remove the Prime Minister."

"Is that so?" he asked. "I never bothered to look. I know why I was arrested that night. No record or rumor will change that."

"You just make sure to continue watching your ass." he replied, his voice lowering so only he could hear him. "I don't care what the fuck your record says. I don't want your ass here in my school. I don't want you getting in the way of what I made for myself here. You fuck things up for me, and I'll say it was 'self-defense' just like I said it was for you little friend. This time, though, I'll break both your legs."

"I'll keep that in mind, Sir." Akira said. "May I please leave, now? I don't want to be here anymore than you want me here."

"You just watch your ass." he said, turning away from him and making his way toward the gym.

"That was dangerous, Joker." Morgana said softly. Akira didn't reply and instead made his way toward the alley. As he approached it, he noticed Ryuji keeping watch. They nodded to each other as he approached, causing Ann and Shiho to stand up from where they were kneeling against the opposite wall.

"Well, Kamoshida just threatened me." he said by way of greeting.

"We saw him grab you on your way out." Ann said, stretching slightly. "What did he want?"

"Wanted to know if I was threatening you." he said, pulling his phone out. "I guess Mishima told him about you leaving right after class before he could stop you, and pinned the blame on me. He also threatened to break both my legs if I did anything to 'fuck up' what he made for himself here at 'his school' as he called it."

"That effin' asshole." Ryuji muttered. "We'll get you, Kamoshida." he said, turning to look at the school.

"Let's go." Akira said, pressing the button on his phone.

"Beginning navigation." the app said, causing the world to warp. Their vision turned red and blurred for a moment before everything cleared up. Joker turned his head to find Mona standing on his shoulder and raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, you activated it while I was in your bag." Mona said by way of explaining. "Where else do you think I'd be when we entered here?"

"Not on my shoulder." Joker replied, causing Panther to giggle at the argument. Mona jumped off his shoulder, allowing him to roll it. "Alright, our mission right now is to find a route to Kamoshida's treasure. Any final questions or comments?" he asked, looking at them. No one said anything, so he simply nodded his head.

"I suppose I have something to say, Inmate." Justine said, drawing his attention. He turned to look at her for a moment standing next to a glowing blue cell door. While surprised, he also couldn't help but feel that he shouldn't be either. "Come. My master has something he wishes to gift you."

"Si aad u wanaagsan." he said walking toward the door.

"Uh...Joker?" Skull asked him. "What did you just say? Also, where are you going? Entrance is over here."

"What language was that?" Revanche asked behind them.

"I...I don't know." Panther replied.

"Where do you think I'm going?" he asked over his shoulder as the cell door opened. He walked in and felt like he was falling into a void. Before he could comprehend what was happening, he hit the bed in the Velvet Room. He sat up and looked down at himself, seeing he was dressed in prison garb once again. He let out a sigh and stood up, walking toward the cell door.

"Welcome back to my Velvet Room, Trickster." Igor said, his ever-present smile spread across his face. "As you begin your journey toward rehabilitation and away from ruin, I felt it prudent to offer you something of a...gift."

"Our master has decided to do this amazing thing for you out of the goodness of his heart, Inmate!" Caroline said, banging her nightstick against the cell door. "You better show some appreciation for it!"

"I have seen fit to upgrade the Meta-nav that I originally gifted to you." he said, leaning forward in his chair to rest his face on top his hand. Despite the height difference, he had no doubt that Igor was looking down on him. "It will have a new feature that will allow you to instantly travel to the...safe rooms...that you may come across in your journeys. I'm sure a gift such as that is worth something, is it not?"

"So...we can instantly travel to other safe rooms?" he asked, wanting to make sure he was hearing correctly. "We don't have to make our way across the entire Palace just to get to where we've left off?"

"That is correct, Trickster." he said, leaning back. "I have also seen fit to gift you with the power of the third eye. With this, you shall be able to clearly see where things are to go and traps that may exist for the simple reason of ending your journey. May these help you with you rehabilitation."

"It is now time for you to return, Inmate." Justine said as the alarm sounded. His vision blurred for a moment before he found himself standing outside the blue cell door in Kamoshida's Palace.

"-hell's wrong with him!" Panther screamed as he turned around.

"I don't know!" Mona shot back.

"Joker!" Revanche exclaimed, drawing their attention.

"Joker!" Panther repeated. "What the hell happened to you!?"

"What are you talking about?" he asked, looking at them. "I was in the Vēlavēṭa kamarā."

"The...what?" Skull asked, tilting his head at him.

"The Chipinda cha Velvet." Joker said again, turning to face him. "Um...what language is he speaking?" Revanche asked, looking at Panther. "None I've ever heard." she said, causing him to raise an eyebrow at her. "I'm speaking Japanese." he said, narrowing his eyes. "What else would I be speaking." "Dude, I know I may suck at a lot, but even I could tell you weren't speaking Japanese." Skull said, causing him to turn and face him.

"Then what language was I speaking?" he asked sarcastically.

"We don't know!" Panther said, looking at him. "You were speaking Japanese, but then switched to some language none of us have even heard of! That was after standing there for ten minutes in some kind of trance! We tried everything we could to break you out of it, but nothing worked!"

"Wait…" he trailed off, looking between them all. "What do you see here?" he asked, pointing toward the door to the Velvet Room.

"There's nothing there." Mona said, looking toward the door and then back to him.

"Seriously?" he asked, turning to face Justine. "Jāsṭina, tārā ki darajā dēkhatē pābē nā?"

"Um...anyone want to take any guesses this time?" Skull asked.

"That is correct, Inmate." Justine said. "Though they will be of much importance and help with your rehabilitation, we cannot let them know of the Velvet Room. For them, you simply stood there in a trance. They cannot see the door, me, or be told of anything relating to it. Any time you speak to me or about the Velvet Room, they will hear a different language."

"Hsnana, hdha rayie." he muttered, turning away.

"Joker?" Revanche asked, looking at him.

"Apparently I can't talk about it." he said, pulling his phone out. "Let's go." he said, tapping the new icon on the phone. He found the safe room they had discovered before being ambushed last time and tapped it.

"Beginning navigation." the app said. Everything blurred for a moment before clearing up with them in the safe room.

"Wait, how'd you do that!?" Mona asked, looking around. "That shouldn't be possible!"

"Let's just say it was the result of that trance I was in earlier." Joker said, hoping they would accept that as an answer. "Remember, while we want to make sure we get this done as quickly as possible, we shouldn't have any hard deadline. We can't just go running in and hoping for the best. Got it?"

"You four should be the main line." Mona said, drawing their attention. "Maybe for strong battles, we can all fight, but for normal Shadows it'll get crowded fast. I'll hang back and offer advice on what enemy is weak to what element. Any complaints?"

"Sounds good." he said, going for the door. "Let's get our vengeance."

-

The infiltration as they called it was going a lot smoother than their last attempt, Revanche found. Even though this was technically Panther's and hers first time with these powers moving as a group, the others hadn't been working together for long either. It allowed them to more easily meld with the group, and hopefully they would grow together far easier.

She also knew that the longer they went, the more tired she seemed to get. She knew Mona had mentioned to them on Saturday that doing this would mentally drain them, but she didn't really know what he meant until she started to feel it. She understood now why they had gone and bought sugary snacks and drinks loaded with caffeine. She also knew that she would never hear the end of it from Panther if she ever found out how happy she was that they bought them.

"You doing okay, Revanche?"

"Yeah." she replied, not even looking up at who spoke.

"Safe room is over there."

"Good. Get her over there."

"Revanche, listen to me. We need to get to the safe room."

"Okay." she said, not paying attention. As she felt herself being pulled, she looked at them and realized her vision had gone into grayscale. She tried to remember when it happened, but was coming up with a blank. They entered the room and she felt herself being pushed toward a sofa. She found herself being sat down and felt someone sitting next to her. A can of soda was put in her hand and opened for her.

"Drink it."

"Okay." she said, bringing it up to her mouth. She noticed her hand was shaking as she lifted it. She took a drink, and noticed her vision starting to return slightly.

"What happened to her?" Panther asked. She looked over and realized she was sitting next to her.

"Most likely she was out of energy." Mona replied. "I warned you that doing this was mentally draining. Using your Persona's main combat skill has to be insane."

"Joker uses multiple Personas, though." Skull said. "How can it be more mentally straining for her?"

"All the skills and attacks that Joker and the rest of us are using are basic skills." Mona replied. "Revanche, however, doesn't have a basic skill. She's using a mid-level Almighty attack. She's probably using something like ten times the mental energy per attack than the rest of us."

"What!?" Panther yelled, turning to face her. "Shiho...why? Why are you still using that if you know how much it cost you to do so?"

"Codenames, Panther." Joker said.

"I'm using it because of how useful it is." Revanche replied. "Other than those Shadows we faced when we got our powers, nothing we've come across can stand up to it. Yeah, I have to drink more of these and have more of those snacks we brought than I would care to, but I think the payoff is worth it."

"It's not." Mona said, shaking his head. "The more you drink these, the less impact they can have on you. When we pulled you in here, you were shaking badly. I'm guessing whatever was in these drinks may also be bad for you in the amounts you're drinking them."

"I think we're done for today." Joker said, causing her to look up at him quickly. She tried to ignore the pain that shot through her head at the sudden movement, and realized that they all must have seen it.

"I can still go on." she argued. "I'll stop using that Megido attack. I'll use my spear, or my rifle. I'll even hang back and let Mona fight instead."

"You look like a mess right now, Revanche." he said, his voice firm. "You're a liability right now. I already said we probably wouldn't do this in a day. Something like this will take multiple days to plan out. We've made some decent progress today. We can safely call it for now and head back. We'll be back in tomorrow to continue on from here. Try and use your spear and rifle more than Megido. If we find ourselves in a bad spot where we need a quick escape, you can use it. Until we become more powerful, though, don't use it."

She sat on the sofa, feeling Ann rubbing her back. She opened her mouth to argue, only to close it again. She knew he was right. With the caffeine in the drink clearing her mind up, she realized how bad off she was. She was still shaking slightly, with a massive headache adding to the issue of her vision still blurring around the edges.

"Do you understand this, Revanche?" Joker asked, his voice hard. She looked up at him again, before lower her head.

"I understand." she said, her voice broken.

"I know you want to get your vengeance on him." he said, kneeling down in front of her. She noticed he still kept his distance. She also noticed that she still drew into herself as he knelt down. "You can't get it if you pass out in here. You can't get it if you end up doing something in here that kills you. You need to stay alive so you can get your revenge against him."

"I know." she said, feeling tears starting to fall from her eyes. "It's hard to know and have these powers that will allow me to stop him when I know that he's currently hunting for Ann right now."

"I understand that." he said. She watched as he reached up toward her, only to stop and lower his hand as she tensed up. "I promise you, we will do everything we can to keep you safe. Trying to rush this, however, won't get anything done."

"I know." she said again.

"We're heading back." he said, standing up. He pulled his phone and scrolled through it for a moment.

"Beginning navigation." the phone said. Everything around them blurred for a moment before they found themselves back at the entrance. The sofa had come with them, only to vanish once Panther and herself stood up. They walked back toward the alleyway, only for Joker's phone to beep once they reached it. He looked at it and tapped something.

"Now returning to the real world from Kamoshida's Palace. Thank you for your hard work." the app said. Everything around them blurred for a moment before they found themselves back outside the school.

"I suggest everyone get a good night's rest." Morgana said, jumping up on Akira's shoulder to get back in his school bag. "That goes double for you, Revanche."

"I'm going to take Shiho to get something decent to eat." Ann said, stretching. "You three want to come with?"

"I can't." Akira said, shaking his head. "I need to get back before my guardian gets pissed at me."

"Oh...that's right." Ann said, deflating slightly. It lasted only a moment before she perked up again. "Well...maybe we can do something as a group once this is all over!"

"I suppose that's possible." he said, nodding his head.

With that, they made their way to the station together before splitting and going their separate ways. Ann stayed close to her for the walk, something she was grateful for. She noticed Akira looking at them before giving her a small smile when she noticed him. She knew he seemed smarter than the usual rumors made him out to be, and wondered if he managed to put together who she had been talking about on the roof that day last week when he stopped her from killing herself.

For the moment, though, she would just take Ann being with her like this.

She'd rather Ann be her friend than leaving her because of something like an unrequited love confession.

-

EVENING

-

As they walked through the backstreets of Yongen-Jaya, Akira felt Morgana shift in his bag. He looked over slightly and noticed he had poked his head out.

"We're going to have to be a lot more careful with Revanche in the future." he said, getting Akira to nod his head. "She was pushing herself way to hard today."

"I know." he said quietly. He turned down the alleyway leading toward Leblanc and noticed a woman step out of the café. He continued walking toward the café as she started walking toward him. He did his best not to stare at her, but couldn't stop his eyes from tracing along her. She seemed to have no problem ignoring him, however. As they got closer to each other, her phone rang. She pulled it out and answered it without even looking.

"Niijima." she said as they passed each other. He continued a few steps and turned slightly to watch as she continued on. "What do you mean I'm being reassigned? I worked on that case for…" she trailed off. He watched as she stopped walking her shoulders dropped. "Of course, Sir. I'll return immediately for the hand-over." she said before hanging up. She lowered the phone and shook her head. "Fucking jackass."

"Joker, what are you doing?"Morgana asked quietly. "We should get inside before she notices you're watching her."

He knew Morgana was right, yet he still couldn't turn away. As she lifted the phone back up and started to walk away again, he forced himself to turn and enter Leblanc. He was still, however, able to hear the first part of her conversation.

"Makoto, it's me. I'm sorry, but I won't be coming home tonight." she said. He stood at the door to the café and looked back at the woman as she made her way to the street. He shook his head after a moment and walked into the café.

"Oh, you're back." Sojiro said in way of greeting. He nodded his head to him, noticing a few people in the café. "I'll call you down when I have something ready for you." he said. Akira again nodded to him and made his way up to his attic hideaway. He put his bag down on the table next to the top of the stairs and walked over to sit on the sofa. Morgana crawled out of his bag and made his way over to sit next to him.

"So...what was that down there, Joker?" he asked, causing Akira to let out a sigh.

"I'm a guy. She was attractive. So shoot me." he said, turning to look at him.

"Lady Ann is attractive. Revanche is attractive. Why do you not act that way toward them?"

"I didn't know that was a problem." he replied. "Besides, Suzui was recently raped. Takamaki is be hunted by the same rapist. Probably not the best idea to be fantasying about the two of them right now, all things considered."

"I suppose you're right." Morgana said, lying down. "Still, though. I haven't seen you look like that toward anyone so far. I suppose I can understand why around the school, but even when you're in town you've never looked at someone like that. I guess I was just a bit shocked is all."

"Can we just accept that I thought she was attractive and move on?" he asked, taking his glasses off and rubbing his eyes. "Besides, we have more important things to deal with than my attraction to some random woman we crossed on the road."

"I guess I'll let it go this time." Morgana said slowly, getting him to roll his eyes as he put his glasses back on. "Like I said out there, we need to be careful with Revanche. She's the most likely to push herself too far if she thinks things are progressing at a fast enough rate."

"I know." he said, nodding his head. "Provided Kamoshida doesn't force our hand, we should be safe."

"I hope you're right, Joker." he said.

"So do I." he replied. "Believe me, I'm more scared of Kamoshida forcing our hand than I am of any Shadow in that Palace right now."

"Just be glad the really powerful Shadow doesn't show up there." Morgana said, drawing his full attention.

"What do you mean by that?"

"There's a place I'll show you once this is all over." Morgana said, looking at him. "If you stay in one area too long, an extremely powerful Shadow appears. If it caught us, we'd be dead. We have no way to beat it as we stand right now."

"How powerful are we talking about?" he asked, curious.

"You know that Almighty attack that Revanche uses? Well, this thing uses that ultimate form of that attack, Megideolaon. We would all die in one hit."

"So it would be bad." Akira said with a nod. "I'll keep that in mind."

"You realize we're going to have to make steady progress in this Palace to keep her calm, right?" Morgana asked after a moment.

"I know." he said, nodding his head. "Not exactly a fan of it, though."

"It'll still be a better alternative than her running herself into the ground." he shot back. "We're also probably going to have to look for alternative ways of replenishing our energy. While those drinks we had will work for short runs, we'll need something safer to use."

"There's always that doctor down the street." he said, leaning back. "I'll go speak with her before we steal Kamoshida's treasure. Hopefully we should be able to use what we currently have until then. Granted, that all depends on if Suzui can remain calm enough to not use that damn attack on everything we come across."

"Hopefully Lady Ann will be able to talk some sense into her."

"Yeah...hopefully." Akira said, offering no real comment on the matter.

-

"You need to drink more water, Shiho." Ann said, pushing her own untouched glass toward her. Shiho simply sighed and picked it up, taking a sip before looking at her.

"You do know all this will do is make me have to pee a lot, right?" she asked sarcastically.

"Yeah, I know." she answered. "It'll flush the caffeine from your body."

"No Ann, it won't." she said with a sigh. "I really screwed up in there, didn't I?" she asked, trying to keep her emotions in check.

"We didn't know how badly it was affecting you." Ann said, shaking her head. "It wasn't your fault, Shiho."

"Yes it was." she said, shaking her head. "I just wanted so badly to be able to get to the treasure in one day. He's actively hunting for you, Ann. The quicker we can make him change, the better."

"Not if it means having to sacrifice you, Shiho." she said, her voice firm. "I refuse to even consider that as an option."

"I know." she said softly, taking another sip of water. She could still see the looks on the faces of her new teammates and felt her face flush slightly in embarrassment at the thought of how she had been. She was an athlete. She knew better than that.

At least, she should have known better than that.

"We just need to be careful." Ann said after a moment. "I'd rather take an extra few days to make him change as opposed to rushing it and having something happen to you or one of the guys. Making him change wouldn't be worth that trade-off if I lost you."

With that, the two fell into a comfortable silence, enjoying the rest of the dinner.

-

It was late in the evening as Kamoshida sipped the alcohol from the glass he poured it in. He knew that the principle wanted a specific kind of student, and had the perfect bitch in mind. All he had to do now was wait for the word on when to make his move. The arrangement he had with Kobayakawa meant he would stay at Shujin as long as he was required to. After all, the only reason he even bothered to pretend to be a teacher was for the easy access to schoolgirls.

It was a nice gig, if he was being honest with himself. In exchange for not going after some of the more...influential girls, he could have whatever bitch he wanted. While he wanted nothing more than to break that Niijima bitch of her holier-than-thou attitude, she was also Kobayakawa's favorite, and the younger sister of a prosecutor. He had no wish to test his luck like that. The same went with the heiress of the Okumura corporation. While he'd get his fifteen minutes of fun with them, he was smart enough to realize they would be the _last_ fifteen minutes of fun he'd ever have. His second piece of payment for having unlimited access to whatever schoolgirl within the specified limits he wanted was simple. Whenever Kobayakawa needed some entertainment, he would be the one to pick who to send.

He never had any idea who the man was working for, nor did he really care to know. If they had the power to get away with using one of the most prestigious schools in Tokyo as a way to have easy access to whores for fun, he wanted nothing to do with them. So long as no one knew he was involved in any of this, he would remain safe. So far as he knew, only Kobayakawa knew who he was.

All it would take was a moment of righteous anger on his part, and he could simply claim he tried to stop the man and accidently killed him.

"Suzui Shiho." he muttered, a smirk spreading across his face. "I wonder how much fight you'll have left in you after they are finished with you."

Now all he had to do was find a way to get Takamaki Ann alone with him.

He would show that bitch what happens when his advances get ignored.

-

Tuesday, 4/19

-

AFTER SCHOOL

-

"Seriously, what's with these puzzles?" Skull asked, looking at the books they had collected. "Is this supposed to be a rip-off of something out of Biohazard or Silent Hill?"

"His cognition would use what he's familiar with to create his Palace. His subconscious would make his Palace match what he thinks something like this would be like." Mona said, looking at the King Book. "Still, these books are obviously important to him."

"We have a book that reads like an auto-biography, and two other books that read like auction catalogues." Joker said, flipping through the Queen Book. "I'm thinking this is a record of his victims, or planned victims. Half the book is filled with people who aren't even students. Hell, some of these are listed under 'housewives' in here."

"A housewife section?" Panther said, looking down over his shoulder. As he turned a page, she let out a gasp. The group turned to her as she turned to look up at Ryuji. "Ryu...Skull. Your mother is in this book."

"What?" he asked, walking over and looking down at it. His eyes widened behind his mask as he shook his head. "No. No, this can't be real. This can't effin' be real."

"Skull…" Mona said, trailing off.

"There's one last room to check." Revanche said, pulling the map they had out. "Either the treasure is there, or it continues on past this map."

"Let's go." Joker said, getting the group to nod in agreement. They made their way out of the safe room, and headed toward the final room they had. Since they had beaten everything on this floor, they moved openly enough to not be bunched up, but were still cautious in case anything showed up. Upon reaching the final room, they entered it and found it empty.

"This must be some kind of library." Revanche said, looking around. Three of the walls were covered in books, with each wall having an indentation for a book to be facing cover out. They had three books, so it wasn't hard to figure out what the puzzle was. They spread out and looked at the titles of the books, quickly figuring out how it worked.

"Your name is on one of these books, Skull." Mona said, drawing their attention.

"Is that right." he said, picking it up. The cover of the book had a picture of him from when he was the star runner of the track team on it. "Wonder what the effin' asshole has to say about me." he muttered, opening the book. He nearly dropped it when, instead of words, everything played out on the page like a video from Kamoshida's point of view.

_"Let's go, shitheads!" Kamoshida yelled at them. "You worthless pussies are wasting my time! I was told you were supposed to be some of the best runners in Tokyo, in Japan, and this is what you do!? Hurry the fuck up!"_

"Is this...his memory?" Panther asked, looking up at Skull. She noticed his eyes had grown dark, and for the first time since she had known him she actually felt scared.

_"Let's go, Sakamoto!" Kamoshida continued to yell, this time focusing on Ryuji. "I figured you'd be better at running, considering you kept running away from Daddy like a little pussy! I guess Mommy didn't help you with anything at all, huh!? Considering what a worthless whore she was to give birth to you, I guess I can't be surprised!"_

_"Fuck you!" Ryuji yelled, running over to him. He threw a punch at Kamoshida, and the man took the hit. "Don't talk about my mom like that, you fucking asshole! I'll fucking kill you, you piece of fucking shit!"_

_"That's a threat! That makes this self-defense!" Kamoshida yelled, throwing Ryuji to the ground. He pinned Ryuji to the ground and punched him in the knee. Ryuji used his other leg to try and force him off, only for Kamoshida to elbow him in the face. He then punched him repeated in the knee until it gave, breaking and bending his leg sideways. Ryuji screamed as Kamoshida stood up and looked at the rest of the track team._

_"The track team is officially disbanded!" he yelled, looking at him. "You have Sakamoto to blame for it."_

The book closed as Skull dropped it and walked over to the wall full of books based on women he had molested or planned to molest.

"Skull…" Panther said, trailing off.

"I need to know." he said, his wavering. "I need to know what he did to my mother."

"Skull, nothing you find is going to change anything." Joker said as Skull found the book.

"It'll change enough." he shot back, his voice dark. He looked down at the book, the cover featuring a picture of his mother. He swallowed nervously and opened the book.

_"Your worthless son attacked me unprovoked." Kamoshida said, looking at Ryuji's mother. "I intend to fully press charges against him. He will be expelled and spend a very long time jail."_

_"He wouldn't attack some for no reason." she shot back. "He's a good boy. I know he would never do that."_

_"Is that so?" Kamoshdia asked. "I suppose I may have said some things that could have provoked him. I might be willing to take that stance. He won't face expulsion, nor jail time. But I want something in return."_

_"I don't have much." she said, reaching for her purse._

_"I don't need money." he said. "I want something else."_

_"What do you want?" she asked, her voice showing she knew what was coming._

_"You're still an attractive woman." he said. "You...entertain me for the afternoon, and I'll say that I provoked him. I won't push for him to be expelled, and we'll have no reason to involve the police." he said, reaching down to unzip his pants. "So what will it be? Your son? Or your dignity as a woman?" he asked. As Ryuji's mother stood up and started to undress, he reached into his pants. "I thought so."_

Panther reached over and closed the book, pulling it out of Skull's numb hands. He looked up at her, his vision blurred from unshed tears. She simply pulled him into her arms and rested his head against her shoulder.

"We need to leave." Skull said, his voice trembling. "If we run into his Shadow now, I'll kill him without any hesitation."

"Okay." Joker said. "Panther, take him back to the safe room. We'll see where this leads, and fall back afterwards."

"Be careful." she said, wrapping her arm around Skull. "Come on, let's go." she said softly to him. They made their way out of the room and moved back toward the safe room. Luckily, or perhaps unluckily, they did not run into any Shadows. With the anger Skull felt, he figured any battle would be as one-sided as it could be. Upon entering the safe room, Panther sat down and patted the spot next to her. He sighed and sat down, only to feel her scoot away from him and pulled his head down onto her lap.

"Uh...Panther?" he asked, the pitch of his voice rising slightly. She didn't say anything and instead pulled his mask off. She sat it next to her and started to rub his face.

"Close your eyes, and don't read too much into this." she said, causing him to close them. He had to admit it felt nice, and was also honest enough to admit that had she not said to not read into it, he totally would have. "Can I be honest about something, Skull?"

"Sure." he replied, feeling the tension he had felt leaving him.

"I'm scared." she said, causing his eyes to open. He tried to ignore what was right in his face, and luckily for him the worried look on Panther's face was enough to pull his attention. "I'm scared that when this is over, we're going to have gone somewhere we can never escape from."

"What do you mean?" he asked, sitting up. She handed him his mask back, and he put it on.

"Revanche wants to kill him for what he did to her, as well as for what he's planning to do to me." she said, looking toward the door. "You want to kill him for what he did to your mother. When the time comes, I don't know if I'd be able to stop either of you, since a part of me wants him dead as well despite my talk about him going to jail being worse. As it stands right now, only Joker and Mona don't want to kill him, and honestly Mona is probably indifferent about it."

"Panther…" he trailed off.

"Honestly, what scares me more is that I don't care if we kill him." she said, turning back to him. "He would deserve it. He deserves to die for what he's done, and we have the perfect way to do it. We would never be caught. The fact that we can do that and get away with it is what scares me. That type of power imbalance...what happens if we continue this and do it to the wrong person?"

"I don't know." he said, shaking his head. "You know me, I'm not the one to have good ideas or think things through. All I know is that right now, our target is beyond a question guilty. Somehow he has gotten away with it out there in the real world. We have the power to stop him, one way or the other. When the time comes, I'll go with whatever the group decides. We decide to let the bastard go to jail, he goes to jail. We decide to kill him, we kill him."

Panther opened her mouth to say something at the same time the door opened. They both turned to watch as the rest of the group walked in, Revanche shaking in anger. Panther stood up and walked over to pull her in arms.

"Bad I take it?" Skull asked, turning to look at Joker and Mona.

"You could say that." Joker replied, reaching up to take off his mask and rub his eyes. "It was probably a good thing you two weren't there. We managed to find a safe room just past the room we found, so we won't have to deal with it anymore."

"Do I want to know?"

"No, you don't." he said firmly. "You going to be okay?"

"Yeah." he said, nodding his head. "Yeah, I should be."

"Good." he said, pulling out his phone while looking at Panther and Revanche. "We're leaving. We cool with that?"

"Let's get out of here before I help Skull murder this piece of shit rapist." Revanche said, her voice low. Skull raised an eyebrow at that as Joker tapped his phone, wondering just what the hell they had found.

"Beginning navigation."

-

EVENING

-

Ryuji opened the door to the apartment he shared with his mother, and looked down to see her shoes there at the entrance. He had managed to keep his anger in check on the trip back, but he could still feel the emotions simmering just under the surface. He knew that had he bumped into Kamoshida on the way home, he would have never been able to stop himself from murdering the bastard in cold blood, but he managed to make it home without incident.

Now, he had to face his mother.

"I'm home." he called out, kicking his shoes off and placing them next to his mother's shoes.

"In here, Sweetie." she called back from the kitchen. He made his way over, trying to keep his memories grounded in the present than in the past. As he walked over to the door leading into the kitchen, however, he found them flowing back to that day.

He knew exactly what day it was Kamoshida had blackmailed and raped his mother. She had told him she would be there in the early afternoon and stay with him in the hospital, only she never showed up. She showed up later that evening, and told him that everything would be alright. He hadn't thought much of it in his pain-filled state, but looking back on the memory now, he could see all the signs. How she moved and sat like it hurt, how she kept her touches to him brief if they happened at all, how her eyes were dark.

As he watched her make her way around the kitchen, he couldn't help but picture what Kamoshdia had done to her. She looked toward him, only to stop and walk over to him.

"Ryuji, Sweetie...what's wrong?" she asked, reaching up to brush her hand against his forehead.

"I'm sorry." he said softly. His vision blurred and he knew it was because of the tears that he had refused to let fall inside the Palace. "I know that...I know that…"

"Ryuji?"

"I know what Kamoshida did to you." he said, causing her gasp. He dropped to his knees and lowered his head to the floor. "Forgive me. Because of me, he blackmailed you into…" he trailed off.

"Ryuji, raise your head." she said. He heard her drop to her knees next to him, but kept his head down. "Ryuji, please look at me." she said again. He slowly raised his head up and looked at her. She smiled at him and pulled him into an embrace. "You don't have anything to ask forgiveness for."

"Yes I do." he said, his voice firm despite the emotions running through him. He wanted to pull out of the embrace and look at her, but he knew he wouldn't be able to say it if he did. He knew if he saw her smiling at him again like that, he would completely break down. "If I hadn't let what he said get to me, if I had managed to keep my cool, if I wasn't such a worthless son, if-"

"Ryuji." she said firmly, pulling away from him. He tried to not catch her eyes, but she turned his head to look at her. She again smiled at him. "You are not a worthless son. You are my son, whom I carried for nine months. I raised you to be one of the most caring persons I have ever met. I know you would never have done something like that without being provoked. He outright admitted to me that he provoked you to get the response he received."

"But if I hadn't-"

"Ryuji." she said again, cutting him off. "If given the choice between watching you get taken to jail on a false charge, or go through what that man made me go through, I would go through that all over again. You are my son, Ryuji. I love you. I would give up anything for you, up to and including my life. One day, when you're a parent, you'll understand."

"And what if I end up like Dad?" he asked, his voice soft. As he voiced what was easily his biggest fear, he felt her embrace tighten.

"The fact that you came in here in tears because of what happened, the fact that you're afraid of turning out like your father...that's proof enough that you never will." she said as she kissed his forehead. "You're a good son, Ryuji. Don't ever believe otherwise."

With those words, Ryuji fully broke down crying. His mother simply held him, something he hadn't had happen since he was in grade school after a bout of his father screaming at them in a drunken rage. The entire time, he continued begging her forgiveness, no matter how many times she told him he was forgiven.

A small part of him, however, swore that he get vengeance for his mother against Kamoshida.

Even if it meant killing the bastard.

-

Shiho scrubbed herself for the third time, trying to get the feeling of disgust off of her. Her skin was red, and she knew it would probably hurt later, but she couldn't help it. She wanted the feeling that room gave her gone.

She knew that leaving Ryuji and herself alone together in the Palace would be a mistake, especially after he found out Kamoshida raped his mother. They both wanted him dead, and the latest blow would have only made things worse. If they were left alone, there would have been no one from stopping them killing the raping bastard. So instead, she went with Akira and Morgana while Ann took Ryuji to calm him down. While she was able to handle being left alone with one of them inside the Palace, she wasn't ready for the room that awaited them after completing the library puzzle.

As she thought about that room covered in hundreds of nude pictures of her being raped, she scrubbed herself even harder. Akira had at least acted like a gentleman and turned to walk back out of the room, forcing Morgana to walk in front of him. He told her to check for a map or anything else of importance, and shout if anything came up. Her face had turned red from embarrassment and anger while she looked for anything of importance. She had found a map and took it back to look over it with them. They found a safe room not far from where the room led, and she decided to activate it right away. They went through the room, with both Akira and Morgana keeping their eyes closed while she led them. Once they left the room, they had quickly made their way to the safe room before doubling back the same way they went in.

She knew that if the other two were to have seen that room, it would have been all over. They would have gone and killed Kamoshida, either in his Palace or in the real world. While she had no issue with him dying, she also knew that if they left the Palace and tried to do so in the real world, it would have very real and very final consequences. Of course, this also led to a new dilemma for her.

It was no secret amongst the group that she wanted Kamoshdia dead. While Ryuji may have been on the fence as far as his opinion, she knew he now feel straight into the killing him category. Ann would most likely follow her lead, which left only Akira and Morgana. Despite his claims to be a human, Morgana was nothing more than a cat outside the Palace, so his opinion did not count for much as far as she was concerned. He would face no consequences in the real world, so she simply wrote his opinion off. That really left only Akira.

It was an open secret that he had an arrest record. She had seen the post on the student forum, and heard the rumors that were being spread around. She knew they had him guilty of every crime imaginable, but the very fact they were like that only proved to her that he wasn't guilty of them. Even the school would have to draw the line at letting a convicted murderer or yakuza member walk freely through their halls. She didn't think he was a rapist (at least, she hoped not), and he honestly did not look like the type to randomly hurt people.

When the time came, she honestly had no idea if he would go forward with killing Kamoshida. Would he be okay with it, or would he want to let him live and spend the rest of his life in jail.

As she started to scrub herself for the fourth time that night, she accepted that she didn't even know what she wanted to have happen to Kamoshida.

-

Ann sat on the sofa in her living room, her wet hair done up in a towel, as she thought back on what had happened today. She didn't know what the others had found in whatever room the library led to, but she knew it couldn't be good. All she knew was that she had never seen her best friend look that angry before. She had thought about asking Akira or Morgana, but thought better of it. She knew Akira would probably never tell her, and honestly thought asking Morgana would be a betrayal of trust amongst all of them.

Adding on what they found out about Ryuji's mother, and she knew the team was hurtling toward a cliff. Alone, Ryuji and Shiho would always question rather or not Kamoshida deserved to die, but would probably refrain from voicing it due to fear. After today, however, she knew they would have no issue with killing him. Their anger had reached a point that they would end up setting each other off with the perfect target in front of them.

Of course, that then led to her own opinion. She had seen ample proof that Kamoshida was nothing more than scum. He had raped her best friend. He was currently trying to get her alone to do the same. He had broken her friend's leg and then used it to blackmail and rape said friend's mother. He was completely without redeemable qualities.

She knew jail would be hard on him. All they had to do was steal his treasure and, according to Morgana at least, he would confess all his crimes. Of course, that led to a possibility that he may never see jail. They may determine that he was not fit to stand trial, that he was not fit to face jail.

Killing his Shadow, at least according to Morgana, would actually see justice being done.

The question, however, was if she could live with the outcome of killing him.

Could Shiho live with the outcome of killing him.

-

"We're in trouble, Joker." Morgana said, drawing his attention. He looked over from his homework and put his pen down, knowing he was right.

"What we found out today was a pretty large blow." Akira agreed. "Between those books and that room, I'm thinking that any chance we have of getting out of there without become murderers has now pretty much vanished."

"What do you think we should do?"

"I'm guessing this isn't something just the two of us can do, right?" he asked, only for Morgana to shake his head. "Yeah, I thought not." he muttered before letting out a sigh. "What we really need to do is take a day or two and cool off, but I know Ryuji and Suzui won't agree to that."

"I agree." Morgana said, standing up to stretch before sitting back down. "Right now, Skull and Revanche are in a bad place. The less exposure they have to Kamoshida, they better off they would be. Honestly, it would be better if they take a day off."

"Guess all I can do is ask." he muttered, pulling his phone out and opening their group chat.

**JOKER:** I can guess, but I don't suppose I could convince you two to take tomorrow off?

**SKULL:** If that's your idea of a joke, it needs work.

**SKULL:** I have zero intention of letting that asshole go for any longer than needed.

**PANTHER:** Honestly, I agree with you, Akira.

**PANTHER:** The way our tempers are now, we're more likely to make a mistake.

**SKULL:** And what, exactly, do you mean by that?

**JOKER:** Right now, Ryuji, I'm not convinced you could go in there and refrain from killing him.

**JOKER:** Morgana isn't convinced you can either.

**JOKER:** The same goes with Suzui.

**SKULL:** Are you saying killing him is a bad thing? Look at what he did!

**JOKER:** All I'm saying is taking a few days to cool down will mean we're not doing anything rash.

**JOKER:** You know, like becoming murderers.

**SKULL:** Meanwhile, it gives Kamoshida more time to commit even more crimes.

**JOKER:** Are you going to be able to remain calm if we run into him?

**SKULL:** What, are you afraid I'll snap?

**JOKER:** Yes, I am.

He leaned back in his chair and looked at his phone, waiting for one of them to respond back to him. After a few moments of silence, he let out a sigh.

"This is going to be harder than I thought." he muttered, getting Morgana to nod his head.

"I agree."

**JOKER:** Once we kill him, we can't go back. We can't change our minds. Do you understand?

**JOKER:** Deserving or not, we will all become murderers. Are you seriously okay with that?

"I'm hoping I don't regret this." he muttered again, typing his next message.

**JOKER:** What would your mother think if she found out you killed someone?

**SKULL:** I'm going in there tomorrow, Akira.

**SKULL:** You can come with me, or stay out of it.

"That idiot!" Morgana yelled.

**JOKER:** And when you find him?

**SKULL:** I'll decide what to do when that time comes.

**JOKER:** Listen to me. We kill him, that's it. He dies.

**JOKER:** We make him confess his crimes, he goes to jail and gets raped for the rest of his life.

**JOKER:** Considering what he did, I'm pretty sure we can all agree that is a just sentence.

He stood up and sat on his bed, looking at his phone every few moments. The longer he went without anyone answering him, the better his odds of convincing them otherwise. At least, he hoped that was the case. With the way they had left the Palace, he didn't know what they would be thinking. The fact that Suzui had yet to reply to anything also didn't bode well. Of course, once he thought it, he saw her name come up.

**REVANCHE:** I...agree with Akira...at least a little.

**REVANCHE:** I'm also in full agreement with Ryuji. I'm all for killing him.

**REVANCHE:** However, if it looks like he won't go to jail, we go back and kill him.

"That won't be possible."

"What do you mean?" Akira asked, looking at Morgana.

"Once we steal his treasure, his Palace will fall." he explained. "If we change his heart and the police decide not to throw him in jail, the only way we'd have to kill him is by doing it here in the real world."

"And that is far more dangerous." he said, looking back at his phone.

**PANTHER:** I've told Ryuji this, but I'm scared that once we start we wouldn't be able to stop.

**PANTHER:** Besides, like Akira said...death is far too quick for him.

**PANTHER:** The thought of him being raped in jail for the rest of his life works for me.

**SKULL:** Fine.

**SKULL:** However, I'm with Suzui. He doesn't go to jail, we go back and kill him.

"You going to tell them?" Morgana asked.

"Hell no." he replied, shaking his head. "Neither are you, at least until it's too late."

**JOKER:** I can live with that.

**SKULL:** Then we go back in tomorrow, right?

**JOKER:** Very well.

With that last message, Akira laid back on his bed and ignored his phone buzzing.

-

Wednesday, 4/20

-

AFTER SCHOOL

-

"We're close." Mona said, drawing their attention. They had made decent headway into the Palace, and were honestly sick of it. However, what started as a series of comments about knowing where the treasure was had led to spending far longer than Joker wanted to in the Palace. They were all exhausted and mentally drained by this point.

"Define 'close' for us." Panther muttered, hugging the wall as they crouched down by a door.

"It's through here." he said, tapping the door softly. "There's also a safe room over there."

"Alright...let's see what's through door number one." Joker muttered, opening the door slightly. He winced slightly at seeing Kamoshida standing amongst a group of Shadows. He closed the door just as softly as he opened it.

"How's it look?" Skull asked.

"Not going through the front door." he replied, running to the opposite wall. He looked up past the nude statues and pointed up. "We'll go up through there. Let's activate the safe room first, then come back."

A quick minute detour later, and they made their way up to the second floor the room. He felt Skull and Revanche tense at the sight of Kamoshida, and hoped they would be able to keep their cool long enough to get to the room behind him. They snuck forward and slowly entered the room behind him, only to come face to face with a mountain of gold and jewels.

"Dude...is this fo'real?" Skull asked, looking at the room.

"Can you imagine the number of crepes you could buy with this?" Panther asked, getting Revanche to roll her eyes.

"More than you could ever actually eat, Panther." she said, her voice playful.

"So...how do we know which one is the treasure, Mona?" Joker asked, turning to face him only to raise an eyebrow at what he saw. Mona was standing there with star-shaped eyes, and started purring. "Um...Mona?"

"Treasure!" he yelled, jumping on the pile of gold.

"Seriously? You're not helping your argument that you're a human, you dumb cat!" Skull yelled over the purring. With how little attention Mona was paying him, he need not have bothered.

"So...what do we do now?" Revanche asked.

"Wait for him to wake up?" Skull replied with a shrug. Mona picked that moment to shake off whatever had affected him, and stood up with a blush on his face.

"I...uh...apologize for making you see that, Lady Ann." he said, clearing his throat. "I...uh...don't know what came over me there."

"Well, I guess it was cute to see." Panther responded with a small smile.

"Cute!?" he yelled before quickly clearing his throat again.

"Mona." Joker said, drawing his attention. "How do we figure out which one of these is the actual treasure?" he asked again.

"It's right here." he replied, pointing toward a swirling mass.

"Uh...that's the treasure?" Skull asked, scratching the back of his head. "How exactly are we supposed to steal that?"

"Once we send the calling card, the treasure will manifest." he said, getting the group to look at him for a moment before turning back to the mass.

"It looks like there's something in it." Revanche said.

"Any idea?" Panther asked, looking into it as well.

"It looks like...a medal."

"It doesn't matter what it is." Mona said, drawing their attention again. "Once we send the calling card, his treasure will appear right here. We steal it, and he'll confess to every crime he's ever committed."

"We'll send it Friday." Joker said, getting their attention. "That'll give us tomorrow to get everything set up and ready. We're going to try and get some more potent supplies to help us as well."

"One more thing." Mona said, once again getting their attention. "We only have one shot at this. We send the calling card, we _have_ to move. The effect will last only for about half a day at most. We won't have time to screw around. If we fail, we _won't_ have another chance to steal it."

"We good, then?" Joker asked, looking between each member of the group. They all nodded in agreement and he nodded back to them. "Then let's head out. We'll spend tomorrow preparing and send the calling card Friday."

"Oh! Can I write it?" Skull asked. "I know exactly what to say."

"So long as you don't make it obvious who wrote it, that's fine." Joker agreed.

"I can't wait." he said, smirking. "That bastard Kamoshida won't know what hit him."

"Why do I feel like we're going to regret this?" Mona asked, causing Joker to shake his head while smirking as well.

"Probably because we are."

-

EVENING

-

It was late when his phone rang. A few muttered curses were quickly stopped upon seeing the caller ID, and Kobayakawa quickly swallowed down any annoyance. He took a deep breath before answering the phone and placing it to his ear.

"Good evening, Sir." he said, trying to keep the fear out of his voice.

"My two guests will be here a few days earlier than previously expected." the person said without any preamble. "They will arrive at Haneda on the JAL airline flight landing at 7:34pm this Friday. They should arrive at their hotel by eight in the evening. They will be staying at the InterContinental Tokyo Bay, room 2004. I expect you will have their entertainment for the trip in their room and ready, correct?"

"Of course, Sir." he said. "I will see to it personally."

"Good." the person said before the line went dead. Kobayakawa lowered his phone and took a deep breath before letting it out. He quickly pulled up his contacts and called the number he needed.

"What can I do for you, Sir?" Kamoshida asked after answering the phone. From the sounds of it, the man wasn't with anyone at the moment, though Kobayakawa couldn't be sure.

"You need to have whatever girl you picked in room 2004 of the InterContinental Tokyo Bay by eight Friday evening." he said, his voice once again hard.

"Very well." Kamoshida replied. "Anything else, Sir?"

"That's all." Kobayakawa answered, hanging up the phone. He let out another sigh and rubbed his eyes. Despite everything that had been promised to him, nothing had yet to come his way. He tried not to think too much on it, but it still sat there just under the surface.

"Damn my ever getting involved with that asshole." he muttered.

-

Thursday, 4/21

-

AFTER SCHOOL

-

"You sure about this, Joker?" Morgana asked as Akira stood outside the Takemi Medical Clinic. He looked toward the cat standing by the door for a moment before turning back to the door.

"Nope." he answered, reaching for the door handle. "Do we have a choice, though?"

"I guess not."

"Didn't think so. Wait out here, I'll be back soon." he said, opening the door. He walked in and once again came face to face with the good doctor. He was once again taken by her punk goth look, like she would be better suited for an American rock show than working in a medical clinic. He was honestly pretty interested, and wouldn't mind getting closer to her. She looked up at him and put down her magazine.

"Welcome to the Takemi Medical Clinic." she said, pulling out a clipboard with a piece of paper attached to it. "Do you have a pressing medical issue, or will you have time to fill out this information form?"

"I was just wondering if you had any types of medications that can help with focusing on my exams." he said, keeping his voice even. He watched her lay the clipboard down while her eyes narrowed.

"Medications to help with your exams." she said slowly, getting him to nod his head.

"That's right."

"Would you like anything else?" she asked sarcastically.

"I don't suppose I can have some of those super meds, could I?" he asked, getting her to raise an eyebrow. She stared at him for a moment before letting out a sigh.

"Please head to the exam-room." she said, her voice sounding defeated. He made his way into it and she followed him. She simply pointed toward the bed and he sat down, facing her. She closed the door and glared at him for a moment before locking it.

"Why did you-"

"Who sent you." she asked, cutting him off. "I'd suspect you were with the police, but not even they would be as stupid as to send an idiot kid who brazenly ask for controlled substances like that. So who was it? One of the area university medical centers? One of the hospitals?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." he said quickly, holding his hands up. "I swear, I'm just here to get some stuff to help me concentrate on my exams."

"And what, you figured asking a doctor would be easier than going to the yakuza hanging around in Shibuya and asking them? Too afraid to be caught out in Shinjuku by Mommy and Daddy?" she shot back, causing him to start losing his cool.

"No, I figured I'd ask a doctor since I'd at least know I was getting something that's real." he said, crossing his arms. "I need those medications."

"Do you have a prescription?" she asked sarcastically.

"Obviously I don't."

"Then you don't need them." she said, her voice firm. She unlocked the door and opened it. "Get out of my clinic. Unless you're dying, don't come back."

"Please." he said, standing up in order to get on his knees and lower his head to the floor. "I'll do anything you want. Just please sell me those medications."

"Anything?" she asked, her voice taking on a strange tone.

"Anything." he said again, hoping he wasn’t making a mistake.

"I suppose I can think of something I need." she said, closing and locking the door again. "Get off my floor and sit back on the bed." she said. He stood up and sat back on the bed again. He watched her as she walked to a small refrigerator and pulled out a cup of something. She handed it to him, and he took it more out of habit than anything else. "Drink it."

"What is it?" he asked, holding the cup up to his nose and inhaling. It didn't seem to have an odor, which could be either good or bad as far as he was concerned.

"You said you want these medications, you drink this." she said, sitting down and crossing her arms and legs while leaning back. His eyes traced along her legs for a moment, following them to her skirt. "What, did you think I'd ask you for sex?" she asked with a sarcastic laugh, drawing his eyes to hers. "I'm sorry to...well, actually I'm happy to break your ego. You're not my type."

"Your loss." he said, smirking at her before drinking what was in the cup. Along with not having any odor, it also seemed to lack any taste. He put the empty cup on the edge of the bed and looked at her, raising any eyebrow.

"Very well." she said, reaching down to open the bottom drawer of her desk. She pulled out two bottles and handed them to him. "The instructions are on the bottle. I want you back here sometime next week to begin your payment for me doing this."

"What will I be doing?" he asked, getting her to give him a smirk.

"Nothing you didn't agree to." she said, causing him to sigh. "You can see yourself out."

"What was in that cup?" he asked, still sitting on the bed. He didn't want to start leaving only to drop dead if she had poisoned him.

"It was only water." she said, her voice sounding like she was feigning innocence. "What, did you expect me to poison you?"

"What the fuck did I get myself into." he muttered, standing up to leave. Behind him, he heard the good doctor's laugh following him.

He'd have to rethink calling her a good doctor, also.

She really seemed more like a doctor of death.

-

Ryuji looked at the bulletin board and smiled. He knew there would be no way it would be removed prior to Kamoshida seeing it, and it would be public enough that they would be able to verify he saw it. He knew the group had left the design and the wording to him, and he was ready for them to be impressed.

"We're coming for you, Kamoshida." he muttered, his smile turning into a smirk. "We'll get our vengeance."


	4. Castle of Lust: Seized

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With today's news about the triumphant return of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, I figured it would be the perfect time to hear about the next exploits of the Phantom Thieves of Vengeance. Next chapter will be in two weeks.
> 
> Anyways, one thing I did not care for in Persona 5 was that you couldn't reload your guns. Ryuji and Haru literally have extra rounds in holders on their thief outfits. Haru is LITERALLY USING A FUCKING MILKOR yet can only use it to fire one round. This is despite the fact she has three extra grenades hanging on her hip. Meanwhile, Ryuji has around twenty extra rounds on his belt, but can only fire the three loaded in his shotgun. I know that Royal KINDA fixed this with their guns now reloading between each battle, but they still only have that one reload. If the system works via cognition, than the Shadows should be able to see multiple extra grenades and shotgun shells hanging off of their outfits and realize that they are not out of ammo.
> 
> So, yeah. Expect them to actually reload their fucking guns in this story.

Friday, 4/22

-

MORNING

-

Ann truly had no idea what to expect when Ryuji had begged them to allow him to make the calling card. Any time they asked him what his plan was, all he would do was smirk and tell them to wait and be impressed. She was pretty sure he wouldn't sign it with their names, but she truly wondered if the idiot would actually do it anyways. It wasn't until she neared a bulletin board when she realized just how far he had gone.

The mass of students milling around would have drawn her attention regardless of what else was going on. The fact that they were whispering about Kamoshida only confirmed her suspicions. She approached them and noticed a bunch a red calling cards spelling out "Kamoshida" on the board. The emblem on the ones she saw almost made her laugh at how cartoonish it looked. She leaned in and read one of them, pleased to see he at least used magazine and newspaper cutouts to hide his handwriting.

"To Sir Kamoshida Suguru, the utter bastard of lust." she read, her eyebrow raising. "We know how shitty you are, and that you put your twisted desires on all those who can't fight back. That's why we have decided to steal away those desires and make you confess your sins. This will be done tomorrow, so we hope you will be ready. From, the Phantom Thieves of Vengeance."

"Who could they be?" one of the students asked.

"Could those rumors about Kamoshida be true?" a girl asked.

"This has to be a load a shit." another student said. "There's no way this is true."

Ann simply shook her head and walked away, noticing Akira and Ryuji standing further down the hall watching. She walked up to them, and noticed a huge smirk spread across Ryuji's face.

"So...what'd you think?" he asked.

"Wow." she said simply, shaking her head. "Remember how we blamed this guy of having eighth-grader syndrome? I take it back. He's outright normal compared to you."

"Come on...I put a lot of thought into that." he whined. "I even looked up other similar ideas for it."

"I also think your drawing is pretty lacking." Morgana said, poking his head out of Akira's bag slightly.

"And I don't care what you think, you dumb cat."

"Who did this!?" a voice screamed, drawing their attention. They watched as Kamoshida walked up to the bulletin board and pulled one of the cards down.

"That should do it." Morgana said.

"Who the fuck did this!?" Kamoshida screamed, looking at the students surrounding the board. "Was it you, you piece of shit!?" he yelled at one of them.

"We should get out of here." Akira said, pushing Ann out of the hallway. Ryuji followed as they listened to Kamoshida's raging at the students. "You're sure that will be enough, Morgana?"

"He saw it and read it." he replied. "That's all that he needs to do in order to have the treasure appear."

"Alright." he said. "As soon as classes end, we steal his treasure."

-

LUNCH

-

"You're some hacker, aren’t you!? Tell me who did this!" Kamoshida screamed at the trembling student in front of him. He had ripped down all the calling cards from the bulletin board, and was now trying to find out who sent them. So far, his best bet of finding out though was being less than helpful.

"I'm telling you, I don't know." Mishima said, cowering in front of him. "No one knows anything."

"The name tells me all I need to know!" he yelled, throwing one of the cards at him. "This 'Vengeance' bullshit means it's someone I've crossed! I know of one person who would have the ability to pull off something like this, and not have it get out to the school."

"Who, Sir?"

"You." he said, his voice dark. He quickly lunged forward and grabbed Mishima by the neck. He thrust him against the wall and lifted him off his feet. Mishima started to panic as he tried to break free. "You're the only one who could find out anything against me. You're the only one who could set it up and not be caught. Tell me...why should I let you live?"

"Was...not...me…" Mishima squeaked out.

"It wasn't you. Is that right?" he asked, his voice condescending. He quickly punched him in the stomach, causing him to seize up. He grabbed him by the groin and lowered him to look into his eyes.

"Please...don't…"

"Here's the deal." Kamoshida said, his voice low and dark. "You are going to bring Takamaki and Suzui to me. I don't care what the fuck you have to do in order to get them here. If you don't, it will be the last mistake you ever make. Suzui has plans for the evening, entertaining some politicians from America. Takamaki, meanwhile, will be busy entertaining me. You fail this simple task, I'll crush your dick and balls before delivering you to said politicians in her place. I'm sure they're be disappointed they won't have a Japanese schoolgirl to fuck, but I'm sure they're enjoy filming a snuff film with you as the star. Do you understand me?"

"Yes…"

"If you try to run, I'll tell the whole world you raped Suzui and murdered her to hide the evidence." he said. "I'll just have to remember to pull out so I don't leave any evidence to the contrary. Do we understand each other?"

"Yes…"

"Good." he said, squeezing both hands. He watched as tears formed and started to fall from Mishima's eyes. After a moment, he let go of his neck and watched as Mishima fell, further injuring his groin in the process. He watched as Mishima lay on the ground, curled up in a ball while coughing and holding his groin. He aimed a kick at his stomach before picking him up.

"Get out of my office, and do what you're supposed to do." he said, throwing him out into the hallway. He closed the door and looked down at the calling card again.

"Who the fuck are you people?" he muttered before crushing the card in his hands.

-

AFTER SCHOOL

-

As soon as the final bell rang, he put his bag in front of him to allow Morgana to jump in. He noticed Ann had already walked out and figured he'd give her a ten second head start before leaving. That idea went out the window when Mishima jumped up and followed Ann out. He let out a disgusted sigh and stood up, slinging the bag over his shoulder.

"You may have to fuck up Mishima's face." he muttered just loud enough for Morgana to hear him.

"It'll be my pleasure to protect Lady Ann from him." Morgana replied. He walked out into the hallway and noticed Mishima blocking the stairs. Ann and Shiho were arguing with him, and drawing large crowd as well. Akira shook his head and approached them, already dreading what the fallout would be for the actions he was about to undertake.

"I'm telling you, Kamoshida wants to see you both." he said, his voice wavering despite trying to sound like he was in control. "You can't leave. You need to go and see him right away."

"And I'm telling you we're not going." Ann said, glaring at him. "You know what he's done. Why would we willingly go back to that."

"I don't want to force you, but…" he trailed off.

"After what that asshole did to me, I never want to see him again." Shiho said, her voice firm. "Considering what he promised you for helping, I'm leaning heavy into pushing you down the stairs and leaving."

"I...I don't know what you're talking about." he said, lowering his head.

"Why are you helping him?" Ann asked, shaking her head. "You know what kind of monster he is. Why help him?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." he said, still keeping his head down while the crowd around them started whispering. This lasted until Akira stepped forward and grabbed Mishima by the collar. Everyone went quiet as Akira pulled him up to him.

"You're blocking the stairs, Mishima." he said, pulling him away. He watched as Ann and Shiho left, leading to Mishima's eyes growing in fear. "What did Kamoshida promise you this time? If I remember correctly, last time he offered to let you have Shiho, or take the hit and go to jail for her rape. Is it the same this time?" he asked. The crowd around them started to whisper even more.

_"Did the transfer student just accuse Kamoshida of rape?"_

_"Could the sins that calling card mentioned be that?"_

_"What if the transfer student is falsely accusing Kamoshida?"_

_"Kamoshida would never do anything to hurt a student, he's a teacher!"_

"Let me give you a friendly piece of advice." Akira whispered just loud enough for only Mishima to hear him. "Continue to hound those two girls, and the next person that vengeance is paid to just might be you."

With that, he let him go and marched down the stairs. The rest of the student body gave him a wide breadth, and he knew news of his actions had already spread amongst the student body. He could only hope that he managed to get out of the school and into the Palace before it reached Kamoshida.

"I hope that doesn't come back to bite us." Morgana said from inside his bag.

"I hope so as well." he muttered.

-

"I want a name, Sir!" Kamoshida yelled, pacing in Kobayakawa's office. The office's owner sat behind the desk, trying to keep his appearance outwardly calm despite the fact he was scared. If someone managed to actually make the rapist confess his crimes, it wouldn't be that hard to imagine his name being spilled as well. At that point, both men's lives would be worthless.

"Our student council president is currently reviewing the footage." Kobayakawa said, his voice firm. "Considering just who she is, and more importantly just who her sister is, I'd suggest you calm yourself before she enters." he said a moment before a knock came on the door. He glared at Kamoshida before the man finally grumbled and sat in a chair. "Enter." he said. The door slid open and his favorite student walked in. He noticed her red eyes shift to Kamoshida for a moment before turning back to him.

"I reviewed the security footage, and whoever it was managed to hide their identity well." she said, opening the folder and placing a photo on the desk between the two men. "This was the best shot we managed to get. We're pretty sure this is a male student who stuffed their shirt to give the appearance of having breast. However, they are wearing a hat with the hood of a hoodie pulled up. Combined with the cloth covering the lower half of their face and the large sunglasses covering the top half of their face, and we have no real way of determining who it is."

"What about audio!?" Kamoshida yelled, drawing her attention. "Surely the piece of shit liar had to say something while doing it!"

"As you should know, Sir, the use of audio recording in the student-areas of the school was banned by the staff." she replied. "Specifically, it was banned by both Principal Kobayakawa and yourself, Sir."

"So you're telling me it's my own fucking fault!?" he yelled, standing up.

"Suguru, sit down." Kobayakawa said, his voice harsh. He saw Kamoshida glare at him, but somehow managed to keep his calm. "Yes, we should have foreseen an incident where the lack of audio recording would be a mistake. It could have been done to any teacher. It just happened to be you. However, taking that anger out on Niijima here will solve nothing."

"Not your ass on the line." he muttered, sitting down. Kobayakawa notice Niijima's eyebrow raise at that line, and figured it was time to get her out of his office.

"I thank you for your time, Niijima." he said, giving her his usual smile he reserved for her. "You're excused."

"Thank you, Sir." she said, bowing. She took one more look at Kamoshida before turning and walking out of the room.

"Right now, we treat this as a prank." he said suddenly, getting Kamoshida's attention. "We continue on as normal. I'll secure the security footage and you can view it to see if anything about the way they move seems familiar. Get whatever whore you picked for the politicians and get her to the hotel. The less of a reaction we cause, the better. Once tomorrow blows over with nothing happening, it'll be forgotten about."

"I hope you're right." Kamoshida said, standing up. "You better be right."

-

"Holy shit...you feelin' this?" Skull asked as soon as they entered the Palace. Joker had to agree with him. Everything had a red haze, while a constant alarm rang from inside the castle. They watched as Shadows walked along the roof, a horrific-looking red light shining from their eyes and lighting the path in front of them.

"It's like this because he saw the calling card." Mona told them. "His cognition has been changed. He knows that his desires are at risk of being stolen, and it's caused this. The treasure will have manifested, and we can steal it this time."

"You said this is our only shot, right?" Revanche asked.

"That's right." he answered. "We only have one shot at stealing his treasure. It's too late to change our minds, so let's do this."

"I'm just glad we don't have to walk through that." Panther said, getting the rest of them nod in agreement.

"Yeah...eff that." Skull muttered as Joker pulled out his phone.

"It's showtime!" he said, tapping the safe room next to the treasure room.

"Beginning navigation." the phone said as everything blurred. A moment later everything cleared up and they were in the safe room. The cautiously exited the room and noticed alarm was even louder inside the castle. Several Shadows stood guard in the hallway, blocking their way in.

"Figures it wouldn't be that easy." Revanche muttered, shaking her head.

"We don't have the time to waste dealing with all of them." Mona said, looking around. "Joker, any ideas?"

"Let's see." he muttered, activating his Third Eye. He spent a moment watching their patterns before letting out a smirk.

"I don't like that look." Panther said.

"I'm going to draw their attention." he said, standing up. "Get up to the second floor and I'll meet you there." he finished before running forward.

"Joker!" he heard Mona yell as he took off.

He let a grin as he tossed his grappling hook to catch a bar. He let it retract enough to keep him off the ground and swung. He held out his knife and cut the Shadow guarding the door.

"Intruder!" it yelled, drawing the attention of the other guards. He unhooked his grapple and landed, willing his knife to turn into a gun. He shot at the closest Shadow while watching the rest of his team making their way to the second floor entrance.

"In the name of King Kamoshida, die!" another Shadow said, raising is sword up. Joker back flipped out of the way, feeling the adrenaline flooding his system. He emptied the magazine in the Shadow that tried to hit him and willed the gun back into a knife. He flung his grappling hook at the bar again and swung out, slashing at Shadows as he went. He unhooked and managed to land on the raised ledge leading to the second floor.

"Go!" he yelled, getting the rest of the group to open the door. He sprinted to them and closed the door behind him. He grabbed a gold bar from the ground and shoved it between the two door handles, sealing themselves in the room.

"His treasure is an effin' crown?" Skull asked, getting his attention. He turned around saw a large crown floating in the air.

"It's simply a piece of his cognition." Mona explained. Whatever his treasure is in reality manifested here as a crown. Once we get it back into the real world, it will become whatever he sees as the root of his twisted desires."

"A crown, huh?" Panther said as it landed on the pile of gold. "I guess it makes sense. Without a crown, there's nothing here that would actually make him a king."

"I bet it's his Olympic medal." Revanche said. "It's what he uses to lord it over the rest of the staff and students here in the school. The only reason my parents don't give a damn what he's done to me is because of that medal."

"Something's not right." Joker said, drawing their attention.

"What's wrong?" Panther asked. "We found the treasure. All we need to do is get to the safe room, teleport back to the entrance, and we'll have won. Even your little stunt in the hallway hasn't caused any issues."

"That's my point." he said, nodding toward the door. "They should be busy trying to break down the door. Instead, we haven't heard anything out there."

"Ambush?" Skull asked.

"I think so."

"I guess that's what happens in RPGs when you near the end of a dungeon." Panther muttered, getting Joker to look at her with a raised eyebrow. She noticed it and gave him an annoyed look. "What? Because I'm a girl I can't play RPGs?"

"I never said that." he said, holding his hands up. "Personally, I think you're right. Are you two going to be able to take a fight with him calmly?" he asked while turning to look at Skull and Revanche.

"We agreed to give the police a shot at arresting him and givin' him a jail sentence." Skull muttered. "I'll refrain from killing him for now."

"I also promised the same." Revanche said as he turned to look at her.

"Then let's do this." he said. They grabbed the crown and started to move toward the door. As they neared it, Mona pulled the gold bar away and cracked open the door.

"No one's out here." he said, opening the door. He walked out and reached the stairs before turning around. "You're clear."

"Move." Joker said, starting to make his way toward the stairs. They carefully made their way down it and started toward the door. They managed to make it half way before a volleyball struck the crown, knocking it from their hands. It glowed before vanishing.

"Shit! It's him!" Skull yelled, facing the stairs.

"I won't let anyone take this!" Kamoshida yelled down at them as the crown manifested in his hand. The fake Ann ran up to him, embracing him. "This proves that I am the king of this castle! It is the core of this world!"

"That rat bastard." Panther muttered.

"Yo pervert!" Skull yelled up at him. "Were you waitin' to ambush us!?"

"I just made it easy to find you." Kamoshida shot back at them, a smug look spreading across his face. "I'll dispose of you myself. Right here. Right now."

"That's our line, you sexually-harrassin' asshole!" Skull yelled back.

"What a selfish misunderstanding…" Kamoshida said, trailing off with a smirk on his face.

"How is it a misunderstanding!?" Panther yelled. "You were doing things that you kept in secret from others!"

"People around me were the ones who kept it secret." he said, his voice becoming amused. "Adults who want to share in my accomplishments. Students who have the drive to become winners. They willingly protect me, so that we all may profit from it."

"Profit?" Skull muttered, the confusion in his voice evident.

"There are too many imbeciles who don't understand that!" Kamoshida continued his rant. "Including naïve brats like you. Especially you, my favorite peasant whore."

"True...I was a total idiot." Revanche muttered while glaring at him. "Letting you groom me, not speaking up, deciding to try and kill myself. If it hadn't been for Joker, you would have won. But I didn't jump. I fought through everything you tried to do to me, and now here we are. I've broken free from you and everything you did to me!"

"Drop the attitude, you mediocre peasant whore!" he yelled back. "There is no wrong in using my gifts for my gain! I'm a cut above all other humans!"

"You're not above us!" Revanche yelled back. "You're beneath us! You're not even above the dust we walk on! You're not even human, you piece of shit!"

"That's right." he said, chuckling. He started to become covered in a red haze while shoving the fake Ann away from himself. "I'm not like you. I am a demon, who rules this world!" he screamed before turning into the same mass of black as Shadows did. He transformed into a laughing monster several times their height, complete with multiple arms and a grotesquely long tongue. "I'm allowed to do whatever the hell I want!" it yelled.

"I can shoot the effin' piece of shit now, right?" Skull asked, willing his lead pipe into his shotgun.

"He's transformed." Mona answered. "He's no longer his Shadow self.

"So like Skull said, we can shoot the rapist bastard now, right?" Revanche asked, willing her spear into her bolt-action rifle.

"Yes!" Mona yelled.

"Get some!" Skull yelled, firing the three rounds his shotgun held. He reached down the shells on his belt and reloaded. As he did so, Revanche fired through her five rounds, each one seeming to do as much damage as the three rounds Skull had fired.

"How's the tip feel this time!?" Revanche yelled.

"So...I'm thinking we shouldn't get her angry at us." Joker muttered, looking down at Mona as he nodded his head in agreement. "Arsène!" he yelled, ripping his mask off. He felt his Persona appear behind him and fired a ball of black energy at Kamoshida. It didn't seem to do much, and honestly probably hurt himself more in the process of ripping off his mask.

"Let's go, Carmen!" Panther yelled, sending a ball of flame at him. That at least did something.

"Zorro!" Morgana yelled. His Persona appeared between them and sent a punch at Kamoshdia.

"You shitty brats!" Kamoshida yelled. "Haven't you been taught not to attack people! Still, it's not like your weak shit can hurt me!" he yelled at them before sticking his fork in the trophy sitting in front of him. He pulled out a nude lower half of a woman and ate it. He glowed for a moment before all the wounds they had inflicted on him vanished. "Mmm, mmm, mmm! That hits the spot! Come at me, you pieces of shit! I ain't leetin' you sleep tonight!"

"He healed himself!?" Mona exclaimed in complete shock. "Is it from eating...whatever those things are inside of that trophy?"

"Seriously...what the eff is with this place!?" Skull yelled.

"We should destroy that first!" Mona told them. "Otherwise, we'll never manage to beat him!"

"Time to earn your positions!" Kamoshida yelled. From behind him, small humanoid figures ran out and launched volleyballs at them. When the balls hit them, they recoiled in pain.

"That was so not a normal volleyball." Revanche muttered.

"Fuck this." Joker said, pulling out his handgun. He aimed at the trophy and emptied the magazine, pissing off Kamoshida in the process.

"Hey! You don't know what this is worth, so stop touching it!" he yelled at them. "Don't do it anymore, got it!? I've warned you!"

"When someone tells us not to do something, it makes us want to do it even more!" Mona shot back.

"Melt it, Carmen!" Panther yelled, sending a ball of fire at it.

"Eat this!" Skull yelled, emptying his shotgun at the trophy before reloading the last three shells he had on his belt.

"Persona!" Mona yelled, causing Zorro to once again appear between them and punch the trophy.

"How's this!? Anastasia!" Revanche shouted, ripping off her mask. A pinprick of light quickly formed into a ball of white energy before exploding, taking the trophy with it.

"No!" Kamoshida yelled. "This was from when I won the national…"

"All right!" Mona exclaimed happily.

"You think that you can get away with doing such a thing?" Kamoshida asked, looking at them while stunned. "Do you realize who I am!? I am Kamoshida! Don't you get it!?"

"So what?" Joker asked.

"So what? So what!?" Kamoshida yelled. "I'll make you regret this! I am the king!"

"I always saw you as a condescending hotshot, but right now, you're just a pathetic loser." Skull said.

"We came all this way to steal that!" Panther shot back at Kamoshdia. "Will you just give it up and hand it over?"

"Silence!" he yelled at them. "I won't let the likes of you have this!"

"I'm glad you say that." Revanche said. "If you gave up this quickly, it would leave me very disappointed. I'm hoping to keep this going as long as possible!"

"Attack him!" Joker yelled, rushing in. They managed to get in a few hits before jumping back.

"I'm the king! If I'm not, then who is!?" he yelled at them. "How dare you keep defying me! Looks like I gotta bring out the big guns! Slaves! Bring over you-know-what!" he yelled, looking down at the humanoid things. Their chains broke free and they ran past the group. "Time for my killshot from when I was active and rockin' it! Killshot...as in I'll make the kill!"

"Is that supposed to be clever?" Panther asked. "That sounds like something Skull would come up with."

"Hey, is now the time for that!?" Skull yelled at her.

"What the holdup!? Where's my ball!?" Kamoshida yelled. A moment later, Mishima ran up the monster holding a volleyball.

"What the hell is he doing here!?" Skull yelled.

"I...I'm so sorry, King Kamoshida!" Mishima said, frightened. "I...I have it right here!"

"Wait, what!? Why's he here?" Panther asked.

"Too slow, Mishima!" Kamoshida shot back at him. "Worthless piece of shit."

"Calm down." Mona told them. "That's only Kamoshida's cognitive version of him. It's not the real Mishima."

"Good." Revanche said, pulling a stripper clip from her uniform. She opened the bolt of her rifle and loaded another five rounds before chambering a round and firing at the cognitive Mishima. He screamed and fell to the ground, vanishing halfway down. She unloaded the last four rounds in the magazine at Kamoshida, her face a picture of calm.

"Revanche!?" Panther yelled in shock, looking toward her.

"He's working with Kamoshida." she said, turning to look at Panther. "It doesn't matter if he's being forced or not. He was actively trying to take us both to Kamoshida this afternoon."

"Holy shit this girl is effin' scary, Joker." Skull muttered, getting Joker to nod in agreement.

"So, the shit-for-brains can't even do a simple job like help his king without proving how much of a pussy he is." Kamoshida said, hitting the ground where the cognitive Mishima had stood a moment earlier. "I guess it's time to bring out someone who can actually work with my ball. Get out here, you peasant whore!"

"Don't tell me…" Revanche trailed off. A moment later, a cognitive Shiho ran out wearing a two-piece bunny-girl outfit. She ran up to the monster and embraced one of the arms, rubbing herself against it.

"King Kamoshida, I've brought you your ball, just like you asked." she said.

"What the hell!?" Panther yelled.

"Now there's a good whore, Suzui." Kamoshida said. "Yeah, all women should obey my orders like this. Ain't that right, sweetheart?"

"You sick piece of shit!" Skull yelled.

"Ah, I get it!" Kamoshida yelled. "You actually want to see my killshot, don't you?"

"Sorry, Revanche." Joker said, ripping his mask off. "Berith!" he yelled, changing Personas. It appeared between them and swung its sword at the cognitive Shiho. She screamed and dropped to the floor. "Skull! Go!" he yelled, turning around and giving him a high-five.

"Let's go, Captain Kidd!" he yelled. The Persona appeared and did a head-butt on the downed girl. She let out another scream.

"I'll finish it!" Mona yelled, running forward and slicing her with his sword. She screamed before turning into a black mass and fading away.

"Looks like even Suzui was useless in the end." Kamoshida said, his voice dismissive. "I guess I'll have to give her some special instruction later...one-on-one!"

"Over my dead body, you rapist bastard!" Revanche yelled up at him.

"Kamoshida, I'll never forgive you!" Panther yelled.

"What's the matter, slaves!? Hurry up and bring me more volleyballs! I can't serve up my killshot without any balls!" he yelled, hitting the ground again. A moment passed with no one running up to him while he looked around before he only grew angrier. "Did I just...am I really out of slaves!?" he screamed, hitting the ground repeatedly.

"This is going to take too long with just brute force." Mona muttered as Kamoshida continued his tantrum.

"I know." Joker muttered, looking around. His eyes narrowed when he realized the layout of the room and the terraces on the second floor. "Mona, get up there to that terrace. When I give the signal, steal his crown. Hopefully we can either get out of here with it or it will distract him enough that we give him a killshot of our own." he said loudly enough for the rest of the group to hear him.

"I like it." Mona said, grinning. "Keep him distracted by attacking him."

"With pleasure." Revanche said, her rifle turning back into a spear.

"Attack him!" Joker yelled, ripping his mask off. Once again Berith appeared and swung his sword at Kamoshida, cutting him.

"Burn him, Carmen!" Panther yelled, ripping her mask off. Carmen appeared behind her and sent a ball of fire at him.

"Whip 'em, Persona!" Skull yelled while ripping his own mask off. Captain Kidd appeared and once again head-butted Kamoshida.

"I'll get my revenge!" Revanche yelled, charging him with her spear and stabbing Kamoshida with it.

"Now listen up! This school exist because I'm around!" Kamoshida gloated, hitting the ground again. "You're the only ones who don't respect me, you know!"

"Believe me, I'll happily continue to not respect you!" Revanche shot back at him.

"You're misunderstanding it all!" he shot back. "I haven't sexually harassed anyone! They came on to me because they wanted to get on my good side! They wanted something that I had, and in payment they gave themselves to me!"

"You raped me!" Revanche yelled. "How is that a misunderstanding!?"

"I gave you an option!" he yelled at her. "When given the choice between your friend or yourself, you decided that you wanted to receive my blessing! You consented to it!"

"He what!?" Panther yelled, looking at Revanche.

"And what about my mother, you effin' asshole!?" Skull yelled at him.

"She consented as well!" he screamed at him. "She took her clothes off! She sucked me off! She guided me in! I didn't have to lift a finger! All to keep her piece of shit son out of jail!"

"That doesn't give you carte blanche to molest or rape a woman!" Joker yelled.

"Wait a minute…" Kamoshida said, looking at them. "Wasn't there five of you?"

"Shit." Joker muttered.

"I knew it!" Kamoshida yelled. "They're missing! Where'd they go!?"

"Now, Mona!" Joker yelled out.

"Check and mate!" Mona yelled out, jumping from the terrace. He kicked the crown off of Kamoshida and landed back with the rest of the group while the crown bounced over and behind them.

"No!" Kamoshida screamed. "My...my precious…"

"That's right, Gollum!" Panther yelled.

"Looks like he's given up." Mona said.

"Good." Revanche said, lifting her spear. "Let's go, Skull!"

"Hell yeah!" he screamed, lifting his lead pip up. The both charged Kamoshida and continued to hit him while the rest of the group watched.

"Damn you!" he yelled, melting into a black mass. They both jumped back, weapons still at the ready. They watched as the large crown shrunk down to a normal size and started to walk toward it. Before they reached it, Kamoshida did a forward roll out of the black mass and grabbed it.

"Damn it!" Skull yelled as the chased him. Kamoshida ran out onto a balcony, and they quickly cornered him.

"What's wrong?" Panther asked. "Not running away?"

"Why don't you run?" Skull took over. "Aren't you a great athlete?"

"It's always been like this!" Kamoshida snapped back at them. "All those fucking hyenas forcing their expectations on me! I'm doing this all for them! What's wrong about demanding a reward for that!?"

"Now you're makin' excuses?" Skull muttered. "We'll do something about that distorted heart of yours." he said louder. He took a step forward before a bolt cycling caused the group to turn around.

"Scared?" Revanche asked from behind them. She had her rifle up, aimed at Kamoshida. "Right now, you're seeing the same view that I was going to look at. I think I was more scared then than when you were raping me. I was sure I had no choice but to jump. What will you do? Will you jump? Or would you rather I kill you right here?"

"I thought we agreed not to kill him." Joker said, looking at her slightly.

"I said I'd consider it." she said. "I've considered it."

"Shiho…" Panther said, her voice breaking from shock.

"Do you want to finish him off then?" Mona asked, looking up at her. "It's your call."

"No, please wait!" Kamoshida yelled out, holding up his hand. "I beg you! Please, don't do this!"

"Shut up." Revanche said, tears starting to form in her eyes. "I begged you not to rape me. Instead, you just went harder and laughed as you licked my tears from my face. I bet the others said the same thing, just as I'm sure you did the same back to them as you did to me. But you have the nerve to beg my forgiveness? You...you took everything from us!" she yelled.

There was a single gunshot.

-

Ever since she had awakened to this power, to Anastasia, she had wondered what she would do in a situation like this. She also found it odd how her Persona was different from the others. Arsène, Zorro, Captain Kidd, Carmen...all were known as thieves. However, Anastasia wasn't one. When she had asked her the night before, Anastasia had told her that she was based on the Romanov of the same name. She had asked why she didn't have a thief while the others did, and Anastasia had been blunt in her answer.

Like the late daughter of the last emperor of Russia, she had had something stolen from her as well. Likewise, her thief outfit was based on the Soviet uniform during the second world war. Anastasia told her of two woman who had fought and gained honor during the war, stealing the lives of those who had stolen the lives of their loved ones from them.

She wanted to kill Kamoshida. She didn't know if it was her Persona influencing her, if it was her outfit and the history behind it influencing her, or the sheer fact that she had been robbed of her innocence by the bastard, but it didn't change the fact. Every time they found him during their trek across the Palace, she had wanted to pull her gun and kill him. She knew she had promised to consider letting him live, but after what he had said, she knew she couldn't let him get away.

At the same time, she knew it wasn't the same. If she were alone, there would have been no question. The first time she saw him he would have died. But she wasn't alone. She had the others with her, who were torn on what to do about him.

She knew she couldn't make the decision for all of them on her own.

She watched as Kamoshida flinched while being hit with bits of wood and lead from the bullet striking the door next to him. She racked the bolt and aimed between his eyes.

"The next round will be _my_ killshot." she said.

"I accept defeat." he said, placing the crown on the ground. "You want this? Take it." he said, rolling it over to them. Joker picked it up of the ground after it reached him while she lowered her rifle. "Go ahead and finish me off. You do that, and my real self will go down too. You have that right...since you've won."

"You bastard…" Revanche muttered. "You bastard!" she yelled, raising her rifle back up as Kamoshida knelt down in defeat.

"Shiho!" Skull yelled as she fired. She finished the four rounds in the gun, all of them impacting on either side of him where he had knelt.

"It's like you said." Revanche muttered, lowering her rifle again. "If his mind shuts down, he can't admit his crimes."

"I've...lost." Kamoshdia said. "You're through when you lose. What am I...what am I suppose to do now?"

"Atone for your sins." Joker told him.

"Alright." Kamoshida said, looking up at them while he started to glow in a white light. "I will leave now and return to my real self. I'll make certain that I-" he continued before vanishing. Immediately after he vanished, the place started to shake around them.

"Hey, just so you know, we don't have time to waste." Mona said, getting their attention. "This place is about to collapse!"

"What do you mean!?" Revanche screamed at him. "You mean this is it!?"

"We don't have time for this!" Joker yelled.

"I would have killed him if I knew this!"

"Which is why we didn't tell you or Skull!" Mona yelled. "We need to go, now!"

"We can argue later!" Skull yelled. "Run!"

They quickly made their way out of the room. As they ran, the ceiling started to cave in with large chunks of castle falling around them. Already, parts almost hit them.

"We're gonna die!" Panther yelled. "We're so gonna die!"

"Excuse me, Lady Ann!" Morgana said, now a normal cat. He jumped on top of Panther's head.

"Hey, what the-!" she yelled out before he hopped onto Skull's head before leaping forward again to land on Joker's shoulder.

"No fair, you jerk!" Skull yelled after him. Morgana simply turned to face him and meowed at him. A moment later, Skull started to slow down, looking at his leg. "What the...why now!" he yelled before falling to the ground, holding his leg.

"Ryuji!" Panther yelled.

"It's been a while, so I just tripped. That's all!" he said as Revanche reached him. As she knelt next to him to help lift him up, she could tell he was lying. She ignored the small part of her screaming at her for touching a male and helped him back to his feet. A booming sound behind them drew their attention as the roof started to complete collapse behind them.

"Let's go!" Joker yelled as Skull got down in a sprinter's start and pushed himself off. She ran after them, managing to keep close to Ryuji as he approached the other two. They noticed a light at the end of the hallway and sprinted toward it.

-

Kamoshida paced in his office, feeling his blood pressure rising. The last anyone had seen of Takamaki and Suzui was that idiot piece of shit Mishima blocking the stairs and trying to force them to come with him. That seemed to be going nowhere when that transfer student pulled Mishima out of the way. He seemed to know too much, and his interference allowed the two girls to escape. He seemed to leave right away as well. The last he had heard Mishima had done multiple circuits around the school trying to find either girl.

"I give him one simple task, and the dumbass can't even do that right!" he yelled, hitting a filing cabinet next to him. "Seriously, what was that fucking idiot thinking!? He better believe I'm going to pin Suzui's rape and murder on him. Maybe I'll pin him with these Phantom Thieves of Vengeance nobodies as well!"

He still remembered the first time he raped a woman. She was a foreign reporter from some nowhere place in Eastern Europe. He had just won his Olympic medal and she was interviewing him for some piece since he had beaten their team of nobodies. After speaking with each other, he had invited her out for drinks. One drink led to two drinks which led to him half-carrying her back to his hotel room. A few hours of fun while she drunkenly begged him to stop and he was hooked. A few threats once she sobered up and he knew she would never talk about it.

It was sporadic over the years after that. Every so often, some woman would recognize him, he'd agree to go get drinks with her, he'd have his fun, then leave her. So far as he was concerned, they sought him out. If they didn't want to get involved with him, they should never have come to him.

Eventually, his got his second biggest break. He played in the nationals, and won. He was famous again, and it led to him being approached by a principal of a school in Tokyo. He almost blew the fat-ass off until he was told just _why_ he had been chosen. Teaching would be little more than a cover. His main job was to source entertainment for the rich and famous.

Sexual entertainment.

"I just need to find out who they are." he muttered, looking down at one of the remaining cards he had pulled down from the bulletin board. "Once I find those fuckers, I can...I can…" he trailed off as his vision blurred.

Slowly, he feel to his knees as the realization of what he had done hit him. He lowered his head to the floor and started crying at the memories of the women he raped, the women he had beaten, the students he brutally tortured...they all flooded into his mind. He quickly started throwing up at the realization that he had sent schoolgirls to be nothing more than entertainment for sick bastards like himself. He had heard rumors that a few had killed themselves after leaving Shujin, and mourned for the lives he had stolen because he felt it was his place to have them.

"What have I done!?" he yelled through the sobs. "I need to turn myself in. I need to be punished for my crimes. I deserve to be killed for them."

With that thought, he sat up and typed a quick message to the entire staff and student body calling for an all-school assembly to be held first thing in the morning.

He would confess his crimes, and then beg to be killed as payment.

It was only fair.

-

"Destination has been deleted." the Meta-nav said as the group tried to catch their breaths in the alleyway by the school.

"I was so sure we were gonna die." Ann said, leaning against the wall and sinking down it to sit. "I can't believe we managed to escape."

"Why didn't you tell us the Palace would vanish once we stole this?" Shiho asked, holding up an Olympic gold medal. The group looked at it in shock.

"Is that fo'real?" Ryuji asked. "Like...is that his actual gold medal?"

"Doubtful." Morgana said. "Odds are more likely it's a fake."

"So, it's gold plated?" Ann asked, reaching out for it. She took it and studied it for a moment before her eyes widened. "This is real gold."

"Just because it's real gold doesn't mean it's a real Olympic medal." Morgana told her. "Still, if it's actual gold that just means we can sell it easier."

"Considering the name on the thing, I think we should wait." Akira said, getting them to look at him. He knew that keeping the thing could make matters even worse, but it would be bad if they took in a fake medal with Kamoshida's name on it only for the man to make the news for a confession. At that point, they may as well just walk around with giant neon signs saying they did it.

"So then what do we do with it?" Shiho asked.

"We'll take it." Morgana said. "I'll hide it somewhere near this guy's attic hideaway. Once things have cooled down some, we'll find somewhere to sell it."

"You live in an attic?" Ryuji asked, causing Akira to shrug.

"I live above a café." he said. "May not be a real room, and I don't know if I'm looking forward to summer or winter the least, but for right now it works."

"What do they serve?" Ann asked, having brightened up the moment the word "café" came out of Akira's mouth.

"Coffee. Curry. Pretty sure that's it." he said with another shrug.

"That's...an odd combination." Shiho said, causing him to once again shrug.

"It's not that bad."

"I guess I'd be interested in trying it." Ann said as her phone dinged. She let out a sigh and pulled it out. "I so don't want to go to a shoot right now." she muttered. A moment later she jumped up. "Kamoshida sent an email to everyone at the school! He's called an all-school assembly for tomorrow!"

"Does that mean it worked!?" Ryuji asked.

"It better have worked." Shiho said, glaring at Morgana and Akira.

"We'll find out tomorrow." Morgana said. "For now, I suggest we disband for the day. I'd also suggest everyone get a decent soak. It'll really help take away from the stress and pain from today's battle."

With those final words, the group walked to the station before going their separate ways upon reaching Shibuya.

-

Saturday, 4/23

-

EARLY MORNING

-

"Yo, 'sup." Akira heard from behind him. He turned saw Ryuji walking up from behind him, and gave him a small smile. He started to turn to look forward again when a familiar shade of red eyes caught his attention. The girl seemed to be looking at them as if trying to piece something together. He couldn’t forget those eyes, the same ones as the woman he saw leaving Leblanc earlier in the week. He wondered if this was possibly her younger sister.

He also couldn't help the slight feeling of nervousness that overcame him as the feeling that they were being watched.

"Hey." he said as Ryuji drew up next to him. He looked at him for a moment before looking back straight ahead and lowering his voice so only he could hear him. "Don't turn around. Female student, short brown hair with a braid, red eyes. Any idea?"

"That can only be our student council president." Ryuji muttered with annoyance. "She's nothing but an ass-kisser."

"She have a name?" he asked.

"What, you interested?" Ryuji shot back. "Her name's Niijima Makoto. She's the principal's favorite, since apparently her sister is some great prosecutor or something. Honestly, I just tune it out."

"So she was a prosecutor, huh?" Akira muttered.

"What, hedging your bets on if you'd survive asking for her hand in marriage?" Ryuji teased.

"No, I'm asking because she's following us." Akira shot back. "Not only is she following us, but she was looking directly at us as if she was studying us."

"You think she suspects us?" Ryuji asked, growing serious.

"I think we need to be very careful." Akira responded. They walked in silence for a few moments before Ryuji turned back to him.

"So...you never said if you were interest or not." Ryuji said, a shit-eating grin spreading across his face.

"I did." Akira replied. "I said I wasn't."

"Besides, I'm pretty sure he's more interested in her older sister." Morgana said from inside the bag. Akira jerked his shoulder while feeling his cheeks start to redden. Ryuji looked at him for a moment before he started to laugh hysterically.

"Dude...you're a cougar-chaser!" Ryuji said, laughing.

"Shut up, Ryuji." Akira said, elbowing him.

Still, he couldn't help the small smile that grew on his face at the thought of the older Niijima. The fact that he now knew she was a prosecutor, however, did ease his attraction a bit. He wanted nothing to do with anyone who worked in or with law enforcement. He could admit to himself he found her attractive, but that would be the end of it.

As they finished the walk to the school, he also couldn't help the feeling of those red eyes boring into him as if they knew exactly who was behind the calling card.

-

MORNING

-

Even though they had wanted to stand as a group in solidarity against Kamoshida, Akira had talked them out of it. Apparently the student council president had managed to pull her mouth away from Kobayakawa's ass long enough to start snooping. From what he had told them, it seemed she was focused on him. While they wondered if it may have had anything to do with how he handled Mishima the day prior, they didn't have the time to worry about it at the moment.

Still, the wait for Kamoshida to come out was starting to take its toll on her. She hadn't been lying when she told Akira and Morgana that had she known the Palace would vanish after beating Kamoshida she would have killed him there on the spot. She could understand why they didn't tell Ryuji or her about it, but it did little to dull the anger. The door opening with four SAT members walking in drew everyone's attention, and she felt a thrill of pleasure shoot through her.

_"Isn't that an SAT? Why would they be here?"_

_"For the police to send an SAT...you don't think?"_

_"Maybe they found out who threatened Kamoshida."_

_"Maybe that transfer student raped someone and is blaming it on Kamoshida."_

She bit her tongue, wanting to screaming at them for their blind stupidity. She was saved from doing so, ironically enough, by Kamoshida himself walking through the door and taking the stage.

"I have been...reborn." he said, looking at them. "I have called for this assembly to inform you all that I am an abuser, a rapist, and the reason behind several suicides over the past five years."

_"What!?"_

_"Did he say suicides?"_

_"Are these the sins that calling card was talking about?"_

"I've been a rapist ever since I first won my Olympic medal." he continued, tears running down his face. "I continued to drug and rape woman until I was given a job here. At that point, I started to molest, groom, and rape the female students. When I heard that several of them had committed suicide after leaving Shujin, instead of feeling sickened, I...I felt sexual pleasure."

_"This guy is sick!"_

_"It's true...I didn't want to say anything, but…"_

_"No one did anything. I thought I was the only one he raped."_

"Along with this, I also blackmailed the mothers of students who annoyed me and forced them to have sex with me under threat of bringing false charges against their children. Sometimes, I even manufactured the reason to do so, even ending the career of a student athlete by breaking his leg...just so I could force his mother to have sex with me."

_"Wait...is that Sakamoto he's talking about?"_

_"Maybe he's behind that 'Vengeance' bullshit."_

"If that wasn't enough, I also sent female students to be sexual playthings of the rich and famous. I don't know who they were sent to, and can only offer guesses, but it does not change the fact that I knew exactly what was waiting for them."

_"He's telling the truth...he did it to me...I was forced to have sex with some British actor."_

_"I wanted to kill that politician. The things he made me do…"_

"It is for that reason...that I hereby tender my resignation as a teacher of this school. Now, I ask the SAT unit that I called for to kill me." he said, dropping to his knees. "Please, take my life! Take it as payment for all the sins I've committed!"

Shiho stood there as everyone around her started talking. She finally understood why Akira stopped her. She wanted Kamoshida dead. Even he wanted himself dead.

Death would be far too kind.

"You don't have to right to die, you rapist!" Shiho screamed, causing everyone to stop talking. "After everything you did to us, you don't get to take the easy way out!"

"I know." he said, "I know you're right. All I can do is beg forgiveness for what I did to you, Suzui, as well as what I had planned for you last night. You were supposed to be given to two politicians. If I wasn't able to get you there, I was going to murder you and pin the blame on someone else in order to get away with my crimes."

_"He was going to murder her!?"_

_"I can't believe this...I just can't believe this."_

_"She's right. Death would be the easy way out for him."_

"We have to live for the rest of our lives dealing with the trauma of what you did." she continued, her voice firm. "How many of us did you mock, did you offer insane no-win choices to by offering to let us go if we instead brought our friends to you? You can spend the rest of your life in prison begging for forgiveness, but you'll never get it."

"I know." he said again before turning to the SAT unit. "Officers, please arrest me." he said, holding his hands out toward them.

"Get the students out of here, now!" Kobayakawa screamed. The staff stood there for a moment as the SAT unit walked forward before moving as well.

"Everyone, get back to class!" one of the teachers yelled next to her. She refused to move or turn away from the sight in front of her as the SAT unit walked up the stairs.

"Kamoshida Suguru, you are under arrest for rape, child abuse, child grooming, suspicion of murder, and conspiracy to commit murder." the leading officer said, pulling handcuffs from one of the pockets on his vest. Kamoshida simply moved his hands up toward him and smiled as the handcuffs were locked on his wrist.

"Thank you." he said. "Please, make sure I spend the rest of my life in jail as punishment."

"That will be for the courts to decide." the officer said, hauling him up.

Shiho couldn't stop the sadistic smile that slowly spread across her face as she watched him walk with the police in handcuffs.

This was so much better than killing him.

-

LUNCH

-

Despite the entertainment from this morning, the teachers still tried to keep things going somewhat smoothly as far as lessons went. Once lunch came around, things had calmed down enough that the rest of the day would most likely go as smooth as possible. Akira stayed at his desk eating the junk he had picked up on his way in while slipping pieces to Morgana when his phone buzzed. He looked down at it and saw it was the group chat.

**SKULL:** Show of hands, who here loved watching that effin' bastard get arrested.

**SKULL:** *raises hand*

**PANTHER:** *raises hand*

**REVANCHE:** *raises hand*

**JOKER:** *raises hand*

"I really did like seeing it as well." Morgana said, causing Akira to nod his head slightly.

**JOKER:** Mona: *raises paw*

**PANTHER:** We should probably lay low for a while. Lets things cool off, you know?

**PANTHER:** Like Akira said, if Ms. Perfect has stopped giving the principal a rimjob to look for us…

**PATHER:** ...well, that would be bad.

**SKULL:** Yeah, about as bad as that mental image.

**REVANCHE:** God Ann, what the hell?

**REVANCHE:** I need some heavy duty brain bleach now!

**SKULL:** Same!

"So...what's a rimjob?" Morgana asked, getting Akira to let out a shudder.

"You don't want to know." he whispered.

**JOKER:** Ann, Morgana wants to know what a rimjob is.

**JOKER:** You said it, you can tell him.

**PANTHER:** I can't tell him that!

**JOKER:** Don't care. You corrupt the pure member, you get to explain it.

**JOKER:** Now, on to a serious discussion. Does anyone know where Niijima hangs out?

**SKULL:** Trying to get info on her sister for you big date?

**PANTHER:** Wait, what!?

**REVANCHE:** You're...going on a date...with Niijima's sister?

**JOKER:** No I'm not.

"I wish they could see you blushing right now." Morgana said, smirking at him. Akira let out a sigh and took a deep breath to try and calm himself down.

"And I'm glad you don't have a phone." he muttered.

**JOKER:** I'm going to try and figure out if she's on to us.

**PANTHER:** I...guess that makes sense.

**JOKER:** If she suspects us, that means we'll have to be really careful what we say around here.

**JOKER:** If she doesn't suspect us, we can move a bit more freely.

**JOKER:** Either way, if we continue doing this I'm thinking we stay clear of Shujin.

**JOKER:** No more changing hearts of staff here. We look elsewhere.

**REVANCHE:** Well, to answer your question, the only place she ever goes to is the library.

**SKULL:** Seriously, that girl has no life other than school and being a Ms. Goody-Two-Shoes.

**SKULL:** Really gets on my nerves.

**PANTHER:** Same.

**PANTHER:** I bet she knew about Kamoshida as well.

**PANTHER:** She had to know what that bastard was doing.

**JOKER:** Until we can find out anything for sure, we do nothing, got it?

Akira watched as the others replied that they understood and put his phone away. He let out a small sigh and shook his head at his so-called "friends" and how they treated him. The thought that he actually had friends brought a small smile to his face as well.

"So...are you planning on asking about her sister?" Morgana asked.

The smile dropped slightly at just what having friends who knew your secrets meant.

-

AFTER SCHOOL

-

As he entered the library, he couldn't help but notice how the quiet room became that much more quiet. He wanted to scream at the absurdity of it, but knew that doing so would only make him stand out even more. At least, he told himself that.

Sometimes, holding onto that lie was the only thing that kept him sane from the rumors.

He found his target quickly. She had a whole table to herself and was surrounded by books. Even though he couldn't see her eyes, her short brown hair gave her away. He walked over to her and cleared his thought slightly. "May I sit here?" he asked, pointing toward a chair on the other end of the table. He stood there for a moment before deciding to take her silence as agreement. He sat down and placed his bag on the table only for her to look up at him.

"I'm working. Please don't disturb me." she said, her red eyes giving him a glare. She held it for a moment before going back to her work. He sat there a moment longer before standing up and walking out of the library.

"Well...that was fast." Morgana said from inside his bag.

"Yeah." he said, nodding his head. "We're fucked."

"Why?" he asked, poking his head out.

"She dismissed me far too quickly." he said, looking back over his shoulder. "Given my reputation, she should have shown something beside the fake glare."

"What makes you think it was fake?"

"The glare may have been real, but there was also a spark of achievement in them." he replied. "It was like all my showing up did was confirm it for her."

"Are you sure?" she asked. "Could it have been sometime else?"

"I don't know." he said, walking toward the shoe lockers. "Tell me, would you dismiss someone who was rumored to be a killer that easily?"

"I...guess not."

"I also noticed what she was writing when I walked up to her." he continued. "She wasn't writing notes, since none of the books around her were opened. She also wasn't writing a paper, because the writing was far too sporadic to even be an outline."

"What are you saying?"

"She was writing notes on possible suspects behind the calling card." he said. "With the obvious exception of you, all four of us were at the top of the list."

-

Niijima Makoto continued to work on her notes, trying to suppress the smile that wanted to spread across her face. All the students in the school knew she studied at this table after classes were over, unless she had duties to attend to. She had no issue working out who could be behind those calling cards while sitting there. She would probably be more of a suspect if she _didn't_ sit there working on it.

Then he came.

The suspect at the top of her list.

As she circled the name "Kurusu Akira" on the top of the page, she felt the smile finally spread across her face.


	5. The Phantom Thieves of Vengeance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to again point out that I am changing the confidants' storylines slightly. For the most part they will run the same as in the game (with the exception of a certain prosecutor), but some parts will be changed. These changes will be really seen coming up. Keep that in mind.

Wednesday, 5/4

-

AFTERNOON

-

It had been a few weeks since they had successfully changed Kamoshida's heart. With the knowledge that the student council president was on to them, they had made good on their collective promise to lay low. He knew Ann and Shiho spent a lot of time together, which was nothing new from what he understood. The fact that Kamoshida had outright admitted to trying to play them off on each other and had planned on murdering Shiho caused not one eyebrow to raise at the two's closeness.

Meanwhile, his friendship with Ryuji had been seen as the two delinquents hanging out. They both knew if they suddenly stopped right after Kamoshida was arrested, they may as well go and confess they were behind the calling card to Niijima. They avoided spending time around the school, and instead Ryuji had shown Akira around the concrete jungle that was his temporary home. While Tottori wasn't exactly small when compared to actual small cities in the mountains of Japan, it may as well be an abandoned village when put against Tokyo.

Still, time moved on. Golden Week finally arrived, and with it Ann was pushing for them to go and celebrate using the funds from the selling of the fake gold medal. He had originally wanted to go and get the money the day before, but ended up stuck working with Sojiro all day. Considering the man was letting him stay there, he figured he should probably help out if required. He only hoped he would be able to get out without having to do more work today.

"Let's go, Morgana." he said, walking towards the stairs.

"Remember, if the Chief wants you to do work for him, promise to do it later."

"I know that." he said, picking up the bag after Morgana jumped inside of it. He let out a small sigh and started walking down the stairs. He saw the café was empty, which was a good sign for his leaving. If the place was busy, he knew he'd be screwed trying to leave. As he entered the café proper, Sojiro look up from his paperwork and nodded his head toward the kitchenette.

"Do the dishes." he said, looking back to his paperwork. Akira bit back the sarcastic response that wanted to come out of his mouth and mentally rewrote it. The last thing he wanted was the man who was his current guardian pissed at him for the rest of his year-long stay.

"I need to take care of something in Shibuya." he said, getting Sojiro's attention. "Once that's taken care, I'll come straight back and work the rest of the day."

Sojiro narrowed his eyes at him for a moment, most likely trying to see if he was lying with his luck, before he nodded his head. He looked back down at his paperwork and Akira took that as a sign of acceptance. He let out a small sigh of relief and started for the door when a customer walked in. Despite his best attempts not to, Akira couldn't help but stare at the woman.

"Welcome." Sojiro said. The woman nodded, her red eyes turning to look at him for a moment before she sat down at the counter. He was saved any awkwardness by the television switching to a news report.

"The cause of the runaway-train incident in the subway on April tenth still has not been found." the reporter said as scenes from the accident cleanup showed on the screen. "Police are hurrying to solve the matter as it may relate to the rise in psychotic breakdown incidents."

"Oh, is that the thing everyone's been talking about?" Sojiro muttered.

"Doesn't it make you curious?" she asked, looking at Sojiro. "People who were living normal lives suddenly went mad or deranged out of the blue. Not to mention that it's happening one after another…could they really be coincidental?" she continued, pausing after while leaving the question hanging in the air. Akira couldn't help it. He could happily stand there and watch her as she pieced together a mystery. As much as he tried to keep his mind from not going there, a small part of him tried to picture being able to sit across from her and discuss one together.

_Don't say anything. Don't say anything. Damn it, Akira, don't say anything! She's a prosecutor! She works with the police! She's evil by proxy! She could end up looking into the calling card! Her sister is on to you! DON'T SAY ANY-!_

"Based on the evidence brought upon by the correlation, it leads one to suspect it isn't." Akira said, surprising himself as the words tumbled out of his mouth. The woman turned and faced him, giving him a questioning look.

"I haven't seen you around here before." she said. He managed to hide the wince while ignoring Morgana's barely audible laugh at how easily she dismissed having seen him before. "Are you a part-timer? I'm surprise this place can afford one."

"Uh, that's exactly the case." Sojiro said quickly, getting her to raise an eyebrow at him. She shook off the odd response and turned back to Akira.

"Are you a high school student? Where do you attend?"

"Shujin Academy." he responded.

"Oh? Someone I know goes there as well." she said with a small smile.

"Would it happen to be the student council president?" he asked, ignoring the growing look of shock on Sojiro's face. He figured he would catch hell from the man later, and only hoped he could convince him it was simply a coincidence.

After all, Sojiro had no reason to know that she suspected him of placing calling cards and forcing a teacher to confess his crimes.

"That's right." she replied, her eyes narrowing a small bit. "Do you know her?"

"We've met once, though I doubt she remembers it. You have the same eyes, though." he replied, grinning internally at the slightest hint of a blush that started to dust her cheeks. "She was studying in the library alone at a table. I asked if I could sit at the other end to read and she kindly told me to leave her alone. Honestly, I don't even think she actually looked _at_ me so much as in my general direction." he said, getting a short laugh out of her. He noticed the shocked look on Sojiro's face grow even more to an almost comical level as he turned to face her.

"That does sound like something she would do." she said, shaking her head slightly. "Nevertheless, as her older sister, I apologize for her rudeness."

"It was no issue." he said, shaking his head as well. "I understand where she was coming from."

"Anyways, I've heard that things are rough right now." she continued, her eyes going dark. Based on her profession, Akira figured she didn't like finding out that a rapist had gotten to run free at her sister's school. "Your PE teacher, Kamoshida, confessed his crimes like he was a completely different person, supposedly. And it happened 'all of a sudden' one day…" she trailed off, looking at him. "What do you think? Can a person's mental state change so easily?"

"Are you asking if I believe in these so-called 'Phantom Thieves of Vengeance' that left a calling card?"

"Joker…what are you doing?" Morgana asked worriedly.

"I guess you could say that." she said, leaning back slightly. Akira forced his eyes to stay on her face and not how her pantsuit framed her figure perfectly.

"Is this an interrogation?" he asked, his voice becoming the playful cockiness he used while in Kamoshida's Palace. He knew he could get used to this.

"Depends." she said, her eyes narrowing slightly again. "Do I need to make it one?"

"Of course not." he said, giving her his Joker smirk. It felt almost like he was flirting and posturing with her, despite the danger involved of her finding out he was the one behind the calling card. "If these Phantom Thieves actually exist, than they are on the side of ethical justice. It could also have been a prank to attempt to blackmail and coerce Kamoshida into confessing. He _did_ rape his students and drive several to kill themselves, plus was conspiring to personally murder another. It's possible the ones he abused put it up to convince him to turn himself in. Maybe they showed him evidence that would have made not turning himself in worse."

"That's an interesting take." she said, nodding her head.

"Well, I was on my way out." he said, reaching for his wallet. He pulled out a thousand yen and placed it on the counter. "Have what you would like on me." he continued, putting his wallet back in his pocket. "Consider it a hope that you continue to be a just prosecutor."

"How do you know my profession?" she asked, her eyes narrowing once again.

"Lucky guess." he said, smirking again. "It was that or detective. You don't have the mannerisms of the detectives I sadly know, so I went with prosecutor. That, and when I asked a friend of mine about your sister, they mentioned that she had an older sister who was a prosecutor." he finished with a shrug.

"I see…" she said, trailing off. He nodded his head and started to walk out. "My name's Niijima Sae." she said as he moved past her, causing him to stop and look at her.

"Kurusu Akira." he said, bowing politely.

"Kurusu…Akira." Sae said, her eyes widening slightly. He wondered if maybe she knew more about him than he thought. He supposed it made sense. If word leaked out that her sister was going to school with a convicted criminal, it would make sense that she would look into just who said criminal was. "Nice to meet you." she said after a moment, her voice unsure.

"Likewise." he said, bowing again with a polite smile. He finished making his way out of Leblanc, wondering what the repercussions of this would be. Right now, he only knew one thing.

He wanted to speak with her again.

"Are we going, Joker?" Morgana asked, poking his head out. He looked over his shoulder at him and realized he was still standing outside the door, looking in at Sae.

"We are." he said, forcing himself to walk toward the station.

"Good." he said, getting back in his bag. "I don't think the Chief would have been happy with you blocking the entrance to the café while you stood there pining after your crush."

Akira opened his mouth to say something in defense, but closed it after a moment. He let a sigh and shook his head.

"God I have it bad." he muttered.

-

It was a bit later when Akira made his way around to Untouchable, doing his best to ignore the predatory look Caroline gave him as she looked down at him from the top of the cell door leading to the Velvet Room. He was shocked the first time he saw it, but had quickly grown used to seeing it when he walked around Shibuya. He had also seen it in a few other spots during his tour of Tokyo over the past few weeks, with the only answer being that it was set up for his convenience. He shook his head slightly before walking into the store.

"Good timing." Iwai said as he entered. He pulled out a paper bag and waved him forward. He walked up to the counter and Iwai handed him the bag. "Stand here and wait. Once I tell you the usual 'thank you' spiel walk out of the store, got it."

"Will I be able to come back and take care of the business I came here for?" he asked.

"Once the people who enter after you leave, you can." he said. "I'll send you a message when it's safe to come back. Go have lunch at Big Bang Burger or something. Bring me the receipt and I'll comp it." he continued before the door opened. "Thank you for your business." he said, getting Akira to nod. He picked up the bag and turned and made his way out of the store, noticing the two men who entered after him were in suits. They stepped aside and let him exit.

"What do you think is in the bag?" Morgana asked him quietly.

"I don't know." he whispered. He walked away from the store and opened it, only for his eyes to widen.

Iwai had given him a gun.

With a shaking hand as he walked, he reached in and hit the magazine release. He pulled the magazine out, and felt his heart stop when he saw the bullets.

Iwai had given him a _real_ gun.

-

Akira was sitting inside Big Bang Burger when his phone dinged. He pulled it out and noticed the message was from Iwai.

**IWAI:** You can bring the item back now.

**AKIRA:** On my way.

**IWAI:** Remember to bring your receipt. I'll comp ya.

Taking a deep breath to continue trying to re-center himself, he grabbed his trash from lunch and stood up. Taking a moment to dump it in the trash, he quickly made his way back to Untouchable. He entered and saw Iwai toss something at him with enough time to react. He looked down at the key for a second before turning around and locking the store, setting the sign to "CLOSED" as well.

"I take it you looked in the bag." Iwai said more than asked. Akira took a deep breath and turned around to nod his head.

"I can appreciate things being 'need-to-know' and everything, but I think I deserve to know just what the hell I'm getting involved with." he said, trying to keep his voice firm despite being more scared than he had ever been in his life.

"I suppose you're right." he said, sighing and leaning back. "I used to be an armorer for a yakuza clan. Most of the clan's weapons were melee in nature, which is why I stock a collection of training gear. I had to learn how to care for both fakes and real things. Granted, I'm sure one of the curators from the Sword Museum would kill me if he watched how I cared for them." he continued, giving off a small smirk for a moment. "Every so often, though, we'd manage to get a firearm. Could be a hunting shotgun from some guy who took a bad loan, could be payment from some American soldier who wanted access to one of the 'Japanese only' brothels.

"Fast-forward a few years, and we figured out something." he continued. "If we managed to give the impression that we were armed to the teeth, other clans would back off. So, I started toying around with airsoft guns. I managed to get them looking like real guns that a clan would realistically have access to."

"What do you mean?" Akira asked. Iwai waved him over and reached down to grab an airsoft handgun.

"This looks brand new, because it is." he said. "This is the top of the tier that I sell. Someone who knows how to look to see if someone is armed with a gun would know instantly that this is fake. Cops will still shoot you first, but clans would realize what it is. Unlike a cop, we can't get new rounds easily, so we had to learn real fast what a fake looked like compared to a real one. Speaking of, hand me the real one."

"Okay." Akira said, reaching into his bag and pulling out the brown paper bag. He placed it on the counter and Iwai opened it to pull the gun out. He held them up side-by-side and Akira started to understand what he meant.

"You see it, don't you?" Iwai asked. "Even though the airsoft gun is all metal, the real one shows more wear and tear. It looks worn. You can see marks from where it had been cleaned, discoloration from being fired, brass transfer marks from the ejecting shells. What my work became was turning this," he said, lifting the fake up for a moment, "into this." he finished, lifting up the real one. "It will still fire plastic BBs, but they are indistinguishable from the real thing."

"How much?" Akira asked, causing Iwai to raise an eyebrow.

"They're not for sale."

"Okay." Akira said, reaching into his bag. He pulled out the fake medal and placed it on the counter. Iwai took a look at it before looking up at him with both eyebrows raised.

"An Olympic gold medal…belonging to Kamoshida Suguru." Iwai said slowly. "The same man who just recently 'confessed his sins' after being blackmailed to do so via a calling card."

"Joker…what the hell are you doing?" Morgana asked quietly from inside the bag.

"I'd like to sell this, along with other random items that may be useful to you in your work." Akira said. "So, I'll ask again. How much?"

"That depends." Iwai replied, pulling out a lollipop and sticking it in his mouth. "What do you know about these so-called 'Phantom Thieves of Vengeance' that left the calling card?"

"I'm sure someone like you can appreciate what's need-to-know information, correct?" Akira asked, causing the man to smile.

"Alright." he said, nodding his head. "I'll tell you what. You continue doing work for me, and I'll agree to give you access to the special menu. All I'll ask for is should I ever need some vengeance done, we talk about it again. Deal?" he asked, sticking his hand out.

"Joker…" Morgana said again.

"Deal." Akira replied, taking the offered hand and shaking on it.

He'd have to change their chat-logs now.

-

EVENING

-

"I'm back." Sae said, walking into her apartment. She inhaled the scent of the cooking food, and felt the slight pang of guilt over how she had been treating Makoto. She quickly crushed it down, knowing that what she was doing was right, no matter how she hated it.

"Welcome home, Sis." she heard her sister call out from the kitchen. She walked in and watched for a moment as her sister tended to the cooking tuna in-between moments of studying what appeared to be one of her old law textbooks. She shook her head for a moment before walking into the area fully.

"I didn't realize they tested you on the legal code at Shujin now." she said, her voice taking on a hard edge as she sat at the table. She briefly wondered if maybe she was only making things worse. If maybe trying to make her baby sister see the truth and the reality of law would be better. Of course, with her luck that would only drive Makoto into it even harder than she already was.

"I'm just preparing for college is all." she said, causing her to let out a sigh.

"All the reading on legal code won't mean anything if you fail your entrance exams." she said harshly.

"I know, and I do study." she replied, tuning to grab the plates to start serving. "I was studying for my entrance exams most of today. This was just some light reading to de-stress is all."

Sae let out a small snort in disgust. Only her sister would see something as dry as legal code being something to read in order to de-stress. Most people would try and have a life in order to de-stress. Even reading for a hobby was fine provided it wasn't something based on the law.

"After all, you managed to rank first in your senior year at Shujin while passing your bar exam with no problems, Sis." she said, placing a plate in front of her. Sae wanted to snap something back at her about it, but knew she couldn't. Anything she said would only backfire on her. She had spent so long playing the hard-ass to her sister that even saying she wanted her to have the life she was forced to give up would seem fake.

Despite it being the truth.

"Fine, fail your exams." she said after a moment. She noticed her sister deflate slightly while hurting herself in the process. When she started acting like this to Makoto, she had hated it. The first time she did, she had to feign leaving to grab something she had forgotten and instead spent a half hour in her car crying. Now, it had become so much like second nature that she rarely thought of it much.

"I promise I won't embarrass you or let you down, Sis." she said. Sae simply looked at her for a moment before turning back to her dinner. The silence dragged on for a few moments before Sae opened her mouth to speak.

"I met that transfer student today." she said, causing Makoto to look up at her. "He said you brushed him off in the library. I had to apologize on your behalf for it."

"I'm sorry, Sis." Makoto replied. "You know how I get when I'm studying."

"I know." she said, looking up at her. She couldn't help the thought that her sister was hiding something from her. Considering how easy it was for her to read her sister, she was actually surprised at the look. "He seems like an interesting person. Logical, if a bit cocky."

"I wouldn't know." she said, shrugging. "Someone leaked his record. Rumors started spreading about what his crimes were, so only a few people talk with him."

"What do you mean his record leaked?" Sae asked, sitting up straight. "Who leaked it?"

"The current guess is that Kamoshida leaked it." she answered. "However, the leaked record was changed so that the crimes were redacted. If you believe the students, he's guilty of every crime from stealing candy from a baby to committing multiple homicides while desecrating the corpses, and everything in-between."

"Has anyone done anything about it?"

"No." she said, shaking her head. "I went to the principal about it, but he simply brushed me off as it being too late to make a difference."

"I suppose he's right, but still…" she muttered. She knew what was on his criminal record. She knew only the staff and Makoto were supposed to know about it. He was supposed to have a clean start for probation in order to prove he wasn't a threat, and then be allowed to go back home with his record sealed. Everything on the arrest record, however, was to the point and extremely neat, the first thing her late father had said showed there was something being covered up. She did a little digging and had found that his trail had irregularities that made even her own drive to win cases seem lazy. She knew what a rigged trail looked like.

After all, she had rigged plenty of them herself. She may not have liked it at first, but it paid the bills. And from the sound of what his parting words to her were, he believed she did it as well.

She would have to go back to Leblanc one of these days, and hope she was lucky enough to catch him on a day he worked.

-

"So…you seemed to enjoy talking with Niijima when she was here." Sojiro said, drawing his attention from where he was washing the dishes. It was close to closing time, and true to his word he had worked from the moment he got back until now. At the mention of Sae, he tried to keep his cool. Based on the chuckle from the older man, however, he must not have done a good job of it.

"Pretty sure you're too old for her if you're trying to chase me off." he said, picking up another coffee mug to rinse before drying. Sojiro simply let out a small laugh.

"And I'm completely sure she's too old for you." he said, his voice firm.

"Look, I just find her attractive, okay." he said, turning off the water and turning to face him. "I'm pretty sure it's not a crime to find someone attractive."

"I never said it was." the older man said. "You want to dream about her, that's on your. Personally, I've always found her to be a bit too cold-hearted and stuck-up. I think today was the first time I'd ever heard her laugh."

"Is she a regular?" he asked, causing Sojiro to sigh.

"Sort of." he said, crossing his arms. "She's come by often enough for me to remember her order, but not often enough that if she doesn't show up regularly I don't wonder what happened to her."

"I see." Akira muttered, turning his head for a moment to look at the seat she had been sitting at. He turned back when Sojiro only sighed again.

"Look, I don't care what you do, so long as it doesn’t do anything bad for my café." the older man said, looking him the eye. "You want to dream about her, be my guest. Hell, jerk off to her, I don't care so long as it's after hours. But don't do anything stupid. Remember, you're still on probation. Do something to break it, and I'll kick your ass out in a heartbeat. I can't think of something much more idiotic and stupid than trying to go after a prosecutor. You got that?"

"I don't intend to do anything." Akira said. "Yeah, I think she's attractive and yeah, I have a thing for women older than me and yeah, I guess if she wasn't a prosecutor and she was interested I'd try something, but she is one. I have no interest in getting involved with anyone who works in law enforcement in any capacity."

"Is that so?" Sojiro asked.

"Yes." Akira replied. They stood the for a moment before the older man once again sighed and shook his head.

"So long as you understand that." he said, going back to finishing up his work. "What are your plans for tomorrow?"

"I'm meeting with some friends." he said, drawing the older man's attention. "They've decided to take me to lunch as some 'welcome to Tokyo' kind of thing. If you want, I'll continue working after I get back."

"How do you like this work?" he asked, getting Akira to raise an eyebrow slightly. While he saw it as more of a hindrance to what he needed to do, he also realized that the actual work itself wasn't the problem. Honestly, he didn't mind the busy-work. It allowed him to center his mind and think while doing mindless work that he could do on auto-pilot.

"I'm not opposed to it." he said diplomatically. Sojiro let out a chuckle at that before nodding his head.

"I'll tell you what, I'll teach you about running the café." he said. "I'm not going to pay you, since you're currently freeloading, but the work experience will be good. Who knows, maybe you'll decide to open a café one day yourself. Maybe you can use it to charm an older woman."

"Alright." he said, nodding his head.

"Good." Sojiro said. "We'll start tomorrow evening. For now, get yourself a plate of rice and curry while I'll get your coffee made."

"Thank you." he said, turning to grab a clean plate. He didn't know if he would ever put whatever skills he would learn here to use, and honestly had no idea if learning to make coffee would be useful outside of being able to drink something besides instant coffee once he left. Still, if it made him more charming, he figured it couldn't be bad.

He also tried, and mostly failed, to banish the image of being able to make Sae a cup of coffee, and the smile of appreciation she'd give him in return.

He really did have it bad.

-

Thursday, 5/5

-

AFTERNOON

-

"Okay, no one told me that The Wilton was going to be a place like this." Akira said, looking up at the hotel. "Are we allowed to just enter and eat here? Wouldn't we need a hotel reservation?"

"Anyone can eat here, provided you have the money." Ann said, smiling at him. "While the restaurant has a normal menu, the real reason we're here is for the buffet. I've always wanted to try The Wilton Buffet's desert table."

"Hey, I heard they have an entire table dedicated to nothing but meat." Ryuji said. "I know what I'm hitting up the second we get in there."

"They go from being at each other's throats to looking like they're siblings in no time." Morgana said, causing Shiho to let out a small giggle. Akira merely let out a sigh, though he did notice people looking at them. He knew they stood out like sore thumbs, but this was something else entirely.

These people didn't want them here.

A short elevator ride up got them into the restaurant proper. Look around as he walked, Akira noticed the next youngest person after them was an attractive woman most likely in her late twenties. Even then, she looked like someone he had seen once, and figured she may be some celebrity. Based on the guards around her, he figured she most likely was. Still, with nothing stopping her, Ann led them up to the maitre d' and smiled.

"I have a reservation for four under the name Takamaki Ann." she said. He looked down his nose at her before look at them. He turned his attention back to Ann after a moment and raised an eyebrow.

"You _are_ aware that the price is eight thousand yen per person, correct?" he said sarcastically. "We also do not have a child's menu."

"I am aware of the price, and we're here for the buffet." she replied.

"Well, you will need to pay up front." he said. "For the four of you, the price will be forty thousand yen."

"Uh…shouldn't that be thirty-two thousand yen?" Ryuji asked.

"I'm charging you for drinks and the extra work you will most likely cause us." he said, not even looking at Ryuji when speaking. "As I said, forty-five thousand yen."

"Ann, they clearly don't want us here." Akira said. "We can spend the money somewhere else."

"No." she said, reaching into her purse. "I've had my heart set on coming here since I first read about it, and we are eating here." she continued as she pulled out her wallet. She counted out the money and handed it to the maitre d'. "Here, forty-five thousand."

"Then you can go take a seat." he said, dismissing him. Before Akira could say anything else, Ann led them into the dining room. She pulled them over to a table and they all sat down.

"Seriously, Ann…you shouldn't have paid him." Akira said. She simply waved him off with a smile.

"So the maitre d' was a jerk." she said. "It doesn't mean everyone here will be one. Now, time to hit the desert table! Let's go, Shiho!" she said, pulling her friend.

"I’m gonna go get some meat!" Ryuji said, jumping up. "Watch our stuff, and you can get something once we're back."

"This is going to end bad." Akira muttered.

-

It was close to an hour later as the group sat, a few stacks of empty plates on the table in front of them. Akira hated that he was right, and was honestly tempted to rub it in Ann's face. While the food was good, it was made almost impossible to enjoy because of the atmosphere in the place. Everyone was whispering around them about how they did not belong. While he personally had gotten more or less used to the whispered about, he knew the same couldn't be said for the others.

"I can't believe these people." Ann muttered, almost looking like she was going to cry. "We're supposed to be celebrating, and instead I feel worse now than when we started."

"Hearing their dismissal of Kamoshida and his crimes didn't help either." Shiho muttered.

"Let's face it. The people here are probably the same ones who Kamoshida was pimping for." Akira said. "Like I said, Ann…we should have gone somewhere else."

"I know." Ann muttered, looking at him. "You're right.

"I wish I knew some of these people's names." Ryuji said, leaning forward. "Especially that asshole at the elevator."

"I wish I knew it, too." Akira muttered. He didn't know what it was, but something about that man had seemed familiar. He tried putting his finger on it, but was again only left with a headache.

"Hey Mona, all it takes to have a Palace is a strongly warped desire, right?" Ryuji asked.

"That's right…" Morgana trailed off.

"Why don't we continue."

"Continue as in…?" Ann asked, trailing off.

"Continue as the Phantom Thieves." Shiho answered for him.

"I was thinking the same thing." Akira said, knowing they didn't really have much of a choice. He didn't know what this "Ruin" was that Igor said was coming, but he did understand that the way to counter it would be to continue as the Phantom Thieves.

"I don't know…" Ann muttered, shaking her head. "I mean, yeah, there are plenty of people who probably need deserve to have their hearts stolen so they change, but at what point do we cross the line?"

"We stop at changing hearts." he said. "We make that decision and we stick to it. We make them confess their crimes, not take away the option for allowing them."

"The world is full of shitty adults." Ryuji said. "If we have the power to change them and make them fess up to their crimes, we should do it."

"I agree." Shiho said.

"Same." Morgana agreed.

"I guess we do have the power, so it would be a shame not to use it." Ann said after a moment.

"Then it's settled." Akira said. "From now on, we are the Phantom Thieves of Vengeance."

-

UNKNOWN DAY

-

UNKNOWN TIME

-

"So that's your story?" Sae asked, glaring at him. He looked back at her, trying to keep his eyes focused. He could feel the welt on the side of his head still growing from where that asshole detective had kicked his chair out from under him causing him to bang his head on the ground. Even as he tried to keep focused, however, another part of him didn't want to be focused. If his vision was blurred, he wouldn't be able to see the look of hurt hidden in Sae's beautiful eyes. "Do you really expect me to believe that?"

"I'd never lie to you, Sae." he said. "You know that."

"Everything you've told me has been a lie!" she screamed, slamming her hand on the table. "Every time I was at Leblanc, every time I'd stay after you'd close up for the evening, every single time you looked me in the eyes and told me you had no idea who the Phantom Thieves were! When I called you from my car in tears because I had a calling card, you already knew about it! You were probably the one who wrote the fucking thing!"

"Okay." he said, holding his hands up. "You've made your point. I lied about my involvement with the Phantom Thieves. However, everything else that I've said has been the truth."

"You expect me to believe you?" she asked, her eyes hardening. "Listen to what you're saying! You're telling me that a _talking cat_ helped you steal a crown which became a duplicate Olympic medal in order to make Kamoshida confess his crimes! All this happened in a _castle_ that just happened to be in the same spot as your school! Do you understand what you're saying!? Give me one reason while I should believe anything you've ever said to me, Akira!"

"Because I love you." he said, causing her eyes to widen. He didn't want to tell her like this, here in this room, but he also realized he no longer had a choice. She had seemed ready to walk out and leave him for the traitor…for _him_.

"You have a hell of a sense of timing." she said softly.

"Well, it is me." he replied before letting a sigh. "I know this is hard to believe, Sae. It's hard to think about logically because logic gets thrown out the window. But think about it. These mental shutdown cases have been going on for several years now. The actions of the Phantom Thieves, however, did not start until we took down Kamoshida. Using that logic, one can assume that there are two groups."

"I remember that argument you pulled on me." she said, closing her eyes. She took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "Okay. I'll listen to you. It's not like I don't feel the same way as well." she finished, looking up at him.

"Thank you, Sae." he said.

"It helps that some aspects of this would be impossible otherwise." she said, looking down at the notes inside of the expensive leather-bound file-holder he had bought her as a birthday gift. "After forcing Kamoshida to reveal his crimes, 'Skull' proposed continuing on as the Phantom Thieves. What happened after you all agreed?"

"After that, Mona told us about a place called 'Mementos' which the entrance to is the subway platform in Shibuya." he said, smiling slightly. While she may not have said the words, she had at least implied she felt something back toward him as well. He'd take what wins he could get right now. "One of these targets in Mementos managed to lead us to our next big target."

"I had to admit, I was curious how you were connected." she said, flipping through notes before throwing down a picture of an old man. "Tell me about Madarame Ichiryusai."

**-END PART ONE-**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Phantom Thieves of Vengeance will return in January 2021.


	6. Mementos

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We now begin the next arc. I'm going to be honest and say that this arc will probably have the least amount of changes to it. While there will be some, it will more or less run the same as it does in the game, but with Shiho.

Saturday, 5/7

-

AFTER SCHOOL

-

Despite the fact that it was perfectly legal and acceptable for students to hang out after school, Akira couldn’t help but feel that they were being watched. He knew it was probably just in his head, but he couldn't shake the feeling that they were judging them for hanging out there.

That they were judging _him_.

"Okay, now we're here." Ryuji said, sounding impatient. "Why did you bring us here for?"

"Just do as I told you." Morgana replied. Ryuji let out a sigh and held his phone up in front of him.

"Right. I've got the Phantom Aficionado Website up. Now what?" he asked.

"Look for a post with a full name in it."

"I already said there's no info on any big shots." he shot back, his impatient tone quickly turning to annoyance. "Don’t you remember?"

"I'm still trying to get over the fact that people actually put someone else's real name on here." Shiho said, looking at the website on her own phone. "Isn't doing something like this illegal?"

"I'm more curious as to who actually made this." Akira said, looking at it on his own phone as well.

"Some scary shit, huh?" Ryuji said, looking up at them.

"He won't listen to what I say…" Ann read from her own phone, trailing off. "No, wait, there's no name on this one."

"Someone's bad-mouthin' me in online chat rooms." Ryuji read, holding up his phone to show Ann. "This one's got a name."

"Ignore those." Morgana said with a sigh. "Aren't there any post about more serious trouble?"

"I don't know what to do about my ex who's stalking me. His name is Nakanohara Natsuhiko." Shiho read from her phone. "According to what it says, he's a teller at City Hall."

"A government worker's stalkin' someone?" Ryuji muttered.

"It's the government." Akira muttered. "What do you expect?"

"That should be a suitable target." Morgana said, ignoring them. "Alright, now get the Meta-nav ready."

"We're just gonna jump right into a Palace?" Ryuji asked, looking up with a smile. "Fine by me!"

"Hey!" Ann yelled at him. "I thought we agreed yesterday after leaving The Wilton that we would go in if the decision was unanimous."

"I'm for going in." Shiho said.

"As am I." Akira replied. He knew that nothing he did anymore would change what happened to that woman from before, but this time he would be able to save another woman from the same fate.

"That's what I'm talkin' about!" Ryuji said loudly.

"Okay then, let's go." Ann said, nodding her head.

"First, reply to the post as the Phantom Thieves of Vengeance." Morgana told him. He looked up for a moment and nodded his head. He went to post a reply before Ann took the phone from him.

"Hey!" he yelled.

"Maybe Akira should write it." she said, handing him the phone. He simply nodded his head and looked down at the phone. He typed a reply to the post about it, making sure to tag the man's social media accounts that had been included. He had to admit, it really was insane how much people would post about someone online. After he finished, he handed the phone back to Ryuji.

"Okay, we need a name and a place, right?" Ryuji asked, looking back at his phone. "So the name is-"

"Actually, we don't need a location this time." Morgana said, cutting him off. "Just enter exactly what I say. The keyword is…Mementos."

"What're you tryin' to pull?" Ryuji asked, looking up at him.

"Just listen to me." Morgana snapped back at him. "It should work…I think."

"Seriously, that again?" Ryuji muttered. "Fine. Nakanohara Natsuhiko, Mementos."

"Candidate found." the Meta-nav replied.

"We got a hit!?" Ryuji exclaimed in shock.

"Just as I thought." Morgana said, his voice smug.

"Beginning navigation." the Meta-nav said. Everything blurred together for a moment before clearing up. They were still standing in Shibuya outside the entrance to the station, but there was now one very big issue.

"Everyone disappeared!" Ann screamed in shock.

"It feels like I’m walking on air." Shiho said, looking down at her feet.

"Is this that Nakanohara guy's Palace?" Ryuji asked, turning to face Morgana.

"That's half right, but half wrong." he replied, for once the smugness that usually filled his voice when speaking to Ryuji gone. Akira knew he would have to talk with him about it at some point, but also realized that this wasn't the time. "This is a type of Palace, but it's different from the normal ones."

"Different how?" Akira asked. Morgana looked between them for a moment before standing up and turning to look down the stairs.

"Come on, let's head down." he said, turning to look over his shoulder. "The Shadows here lurk underground. I don't quite understand why. It may be because they're drawn to something."

"Underground? How are we going to get there?" Ann asked.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked, his voice taking a sarcastic tone rarely used for Ann. "You use it every day on your way to school. Follow me!" he finished, jumping down from his perch and running down the stairs.

"Wait up, cat!" Ryuji yelled. He vaulted over the ledge and ran after Morgana, with the rest of the group following the more normal way of using the stairs properly. When they entered the next floor down, everything had a red hue, with what looked like red veins hugging the floor, the ceiling, and the walls.

"Uh…I'm pretty sure the subway didn't look like this when we got here." Revanche said.

"I was just think…" Skull started, turning around to face her. He stopped for a moment as his eyes widened. "Wait, our clothes changed!? You said this only happens when the Palace ruler sees us a threat!" he yelled, turning to face Mona.

"The Shadows know we're here!?" Panther yelled, also turning to face Mona.

"Since the moment we stepped in." Mona said, acting as if it were no real problem.

"You should've told us, you stupid cat!" Skull yelled.

"We're still safe right here." Mona told him. "I've come to investigate a number of times. Shadows never come up to this floor. But it's a different story once you go down. This place is simply teeming with them."

"I can guess why they don't come to this floor." Joker muttered, looking toward the entrance to the Velvet Room. The rest of the Phantom Thieves look in the same direction before turning to look at him. He simply sighed and shook his head. "Same thing as back in Kamoshida's Palace. I can't talk about it."

"That's not important right now." Panther said, turning back to Mona. "What is this Mementos place!? You promised to explain, I think it's time you start!"

"Mementos is…everyone's Palace." he answered.

"The hell you mean by 'everyone's'?" Skull asked.

"A Palace as grand as the previous castle only forms when a person's wises are extremely distorted." Mona said, causing them to nod their heads. "So, instead of many _individual_ Palaces, the general public has one gigantic _shared_ Palace. That's where we are now. Mementos."

"Now that you mention it, this place does feel a bit different from Kamoshida's Palace." Revanche muttered.

"When you say shared, you mean they're all put together?" Skull asked. "Even though they're just strangers?"

"Think of it as the collective unconscious." Mona said before frowning and shaking his head. "No, never mind. You wouldn't understand that, Skull."

"So what you're saying is…using this place, we can even change the hearts of people who don't have a Palace?" Panther asked, cutting off Skull before he could snap back at Mona.

"Correct, Lady Ann!" Mona said, turning to smile at her. "The steps to do so are slightly different, though."

"But this place looks pretty huge." Skull said, turning to look down the stairs leading further down. Joker joined him and realized that it only lead to a black depth they couldn't see through. "Are we gonna be able to get around just by walkin'?"

"It seems the time has finally come." Mona said, running over to a large space off to the side. He made a shonen anime pose, causing the others to look at him in confusion. "Morgana…transform!" he yelled. With that, he jumped into the air and turned into a bus. "Come now, Panther, Revanche. Ladies first."

"A bus!?" Panther yelled.

"No way!" Skull yelled, even more in shock than Panther.

"I wonder if seeing this would count as a side-effect for Takemi…" Joker muttered.

"We go from a horror game to a Ghibli movie." Revanche muttered. "Just when I thought nothing would ever surprise me again, the talking cat pulls this stunt."

"This comes from the way cognition materializes in the Metaverse, plus a bit of extra training." Mona said, as if it should have been obvious. "It's not dissimilar to how you guys transform."

"You turnin' into a bus is totally different than our clothes changin'!" Skull screamed at him.

"For some reason, 'cats turning into buses' is an extremely widespread cognition among the general public."

"Oh my God we are in a Ghibli movie." Panther muttered.

"What's a Ghibli movie?" Mona asked.

"We can show you later." Skull said, shaking his head. "Better question is why didn't you do this at the castle!?"

"I would have if I could." he said as they walked toward the side where a door was. "But that castle was cramped, there were tons of stairs, and no way this fits on top of a chandelier!"

"I guess that makes sense." Revanche muttered.

"Hey, Skull!" Panther yelled. "Ladies first!"

"Stop pullin' me!" Skull yelled back. "That's dangerous!"

"Panther!" Mona yelled out. "Please be gentle!"

"Why the hell did I go with you into that Palace?" Revanche asked, turning to look at Joker. He simply shrugged as she shook her head. The both walked over and Akira jumped shotgun while Revanche jumped in back behind the middle seat.

"All aboard. Let's go." Skull said, leaning back in his seat. They sat there for a moment, looking out the windshield before turning to look at each other.

"You people _do_ understand that I'm a bus, right?" Mona's voice cut in through the radio. "I'm not going anywhere unless someone drives me. I'm a bus, remember?"

"You can't drive yourself!?" Skull shouted.

"Do you know how to drive, Joker?" Panther asked. He looked back at them and smirked.

"Time to bust my moves." he said, sliding over to sit behind the wheel.

"Seriously…why in the hell did I follow you?" Revanche asked again, resting her head against the middle seat.

"Um…safety first, okay?" Panther muttered, looking worried. Joker simply let his smirk grow.

"You'd better not smash up my beautiful face, you hear me!?" Mona yelled through the radio.

"Alright then, we'll leave the driving to you!" Panther said with a forced smile.

"I put forward the motion that we find someone who can actually drive and haul them in here to drive for us." Revanche said.

"Nah, we'll be good!" Skull said, jumping into the front seat next to Joker. Revanche shook her head and jumped forward into the middle seat next to Panther.

"Now start the engine." Mona said. "You can't drive if it's not running!"

"God, what a pain." Skull muttered, looking at the dash. "Where's the key to this thing?"

"Why would you need a key?" he shot back. "There's a switch just down next to the steering wheel."

"Okay." Joker said, reaching down and flicking a switch.

"That tickles!" Mona laughed. "Lower, lower!"

"You know, I'm down with walking." Revanche said from the back as Joker reached down and flicked another switch. The bus, he figured they'd call it the Monamobile, started to shake as the engine…purred.

"Oh, there!" Mona said. "That feels so good…" he trailed off.

"Uh…is that purrin' I hear?" Skull asked. "What a creepy-ass bus."

"Don't underestimate my meowtary engine." he shot back.

"Meowtary?" Panther asked.

"We're going full throttle!" Mona yelled, ignoring her. "It's time to fly!"

-

Things weren't going well for Mishima Yuuki. Ever since he had tried to stop Takamaki and Suzui from leaving, people had been avoiding him. Despite having leaked Kurusu's record under Kamoshida's orders, and starting the rumors about him being worse than his record said, people were starting to believe him. His actions were very public, and for the first time Mishima had felt fear. Kamoshida had threatened to kill him, but something about Kurusu's eyes scared him far more than anything Kamoshida had done to him. He knew that the quiet teen would be able to take Kamoshida's head off, and was afraid of what would happen should Kurusu find out.

Instead, he started up the Phantom Aficionado Website in hopes to use it as peace offering. He didn't know for sure if Kurusu was a member of the Phantom Thieves, but it made sense. He knew things that no one should know, including what Kamoshida originally promised him. He seemed to be looking out for Takamaki and Suzui. He had no doubt in his mind that he might one day see his name on a calling card. However, provided he offered a way for them to change hearts and get vengeance on those who actually required it, everything would be better.

He tried to ignore how many people had added his own name to the website. He figured there would be no harm in removing those post. He also did the same for the ones that featured Kurusu as well. There was no reason for a hero of justice to have their name put forward to have vengeance visited upon them.

He saw Kurusu standing with Takamaki and Suzui, as well as Sakamoto, outside the entrance to the subway in Shibuya. He hung back to watch them, trying to ignore the fact that what he could be doing was seen as spying on them. He was curious if they knew about the website. He was still waiting for the right time to go and tell Kurusu about it, but so far that didn't seem to…

He blinked his eyes, reaching up to rub them. He had been watching them. There was no way they could have left without him noticing. Nevertheless, they were gone. They had been standing there one moment, only to simply vanish in an instant. He ran his hands through his hair a few times trying to make sense of it when his phone's alert noises started pinging at a constant rate. He took it out and looked down, only to see it was all notifications from one post on the website. He opened it, and almost dropped his phone at what he read.

"To Nakanohara Natsuhiko, the stalking ex-boyfriend from City Hall." he read softly. "We have heard from the masses and the one you have stalked about your actions. We have decided to steal your twisted desires and make you confess and repent from your sins. From, The Phantom Thieves of Vengeance."

He looked up at the spot where they had been standing, his eyes wide.

They really were the Phantom Thieves of Vengeance.

-

"Hmm…interesting." the man said, watching as the four teens and a cat disappeared. He opened his phone and looked down at the email he had received from the principal of Shujin on the students harmed by Kamoshida. Three of the four were victims of the man, while the fourth was the infamous criminal transfer student. He had heard that he had a confrontation with a student who had been fingered as being Kamoshida's gopher the day this calling card was sent. From what he'd heard, the teen had outright threatened the other with a calling card bearing his name being posted. While no one seemed willing to make an official announcement of it, it seemed to be believed that this student may just be a member of these Phantom Thieves of Vengeance.

Considering he had just watched them vanish, Maruki Takuto knew he just found the Phantom Thieves of Vengeance.

He knew he just found his way to create the world he promised to make for Rumi.

-

"Okay…this place isn't creepy as all hell." Skull said, looking out the window. Joker nodded his head, looking out while leaning against the steering wheel. He felt Panther brush up against his right shoulder as both her and Revanche looked out as well. "Seriously, what the eff is up with this place, Mona?"

"This is everyone's Palace." he answered, his voice coming through the radio. "For some reason, they collective cognition is that of a subway."

"Okay, but…why a subway?" Revanche asked. "Kamoshida saw himself as king of a castle, thus his Palace was a castle. Does the public see themselves as poor bastards stuck on a train, thus subway?"

"It could be." he said. "Most people in this city take the subway, right? Even those who don't have probably taken it before, though. Tell me, how rare would it be for someone in this city to have not once taken the subway, or even _heard_ of the subway before?"

"Next to impossible." Panther answered. "So you're saying it's a subway because that's what everyone knows?"

"Everyone in this city has a different walk of life, but the one thing that connects all of them is the subway." he said, his voice confident. "At least…I think." he continued, the confidence quickly fading away.

"Okay, so…this may be a stupid question but…we're not goin' to be hit by a train, right?" Skull asked.

"Why would we be hit by a train?" he asked, his voice turning sarcastic.

"I don't know, maybe because we're goin' to be drivin' on the effin' tracks!" he shot back.

"We'll be fine…I think."

"We are so gonna die." Panther moaned, lowering her head onto the back of the seat.

"Well, then let's hurry up and get it over with." Joker said, starting to drive forward.

"What the hell do you mean by that!?" Panther cried. Joker simply smirked.

Joker did have to admit, though. Skull was right about the place. He hadn't seen something look this horrific since that time he looked up that Silent Hill game Skull had mentioned when they were running through Kamoshida's Palace. He knew if the radio started emitting static, he would probably scream.

More horrifying than that, however, was the fact that something about the place seemed familiar. He couldn’t explain why, but it felt like he had been here before. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was watching them from the moment they entered, something unseen. It wasn't even that whatever this unseen _thing_ was didn't want them there. If anything, he couldn't shake the feeling that whatever this thing was was actually amused.

"Shadow." Revanche said, looking out one of the side windows.

"If you can sneak up behind it, we should be able to ambush it." Mona said.

"I think that's the exit down over there." Panther said, looking out the other window.

"Let's go down first." Joker said, turning the wheel. They made their way to the station platform. Upon reaching it, the doors opened.

"The next area down doesn’t have tracks." Mona said. "We should be able to walk it."

With that, they got out of the Monamobile and climbed off the tracks. Mona turned back into his a cat form and they went down the escalator. It lead to platform where hundreds of humanoid shadows stood watching a man standing in the middle.

"So…this isn't creepy." Panther muttered.

"That person there." Mona said, pointing towards the man. "That seems to be Nakanohara's Shadow."

"So this guy's a teller at City Hall, huh?" Skull muttered.

"I don’t think he's exactly evil like Kamoshida, but we have to do something if he's bothering other people." Panther said, getting Revanche to nod her head in agreement.

"Alright, we'll go talk to him." Mona said. With that, they started approaching him until he looked up at them, his eyes a golden color.

"Who are you!?" Nakanohara yelled.

"Are you that stalker!?" Panther yelled back at him. "Haven't you ever stopped to consider how your ex feels?"

"She's my property!" he screamed, turning to face her. "I can do whatever the fuck I want with her! After all, it's not like she didn't treat me like a plaything! What the hell's wrong with me doing the same thing to her!?""

"I beg to differ." Revanche said, willing her bolt-action into her hands. "She's not your property!"

"You can't treat someone like shit just 'cause they did it to you!" Skull yelled at him. "What a load of crap. We're gonna change the hearts of all the bastards like you!"

"There are millions of people far worse than me!" he said, looking away for a moment before turning back to glare at them. "What about Madarame!? That lying bastard stole everything from me, but you're letting someone like _him_ off the hook!?"

"Madarame?" Skull asked, taking a step back. "The hell's this guy goin' on about?"

"I'm talking about Madarame!" he screamed before falling apart into black mass and turning into a monster.

"Get ready!" Mona told them. "I'll give support! Here he comes!"

"Now that I finally have what's rightfully mine, I'm not going to let you take it away!" it yelled at them. "Look, this is a winner-takes-all world. That's the only thing of worth Madarame taught me. I'm not going to let you take her from me! I'll show you what I mean!"

"Arsène!" Joker yelled, ripping his mask off as Nakanohara cast something on himself. He felt the air displacement as the curse attack shot past him and hit Nakanohara. He recoiled a bit, but seemed to brush it off with a laugh.

"Let's go, Carmen!" Panther yelled as a ball of fire hit him. He simply chuckled as nothing happened. "Damn it!"

"Firing!" Revanche yelled, raising up her rifle. She fired a round, only to lower it in shock as the bullet bounced off Nakanohara and put a hole in the far wall. "Are you serious!?"

"Eat this!" Skull yelled, ripping his mask off. A bolt of lightning struck him, causing him to the fall to the ground. "Let's beat his ass!" he yelled, leading the charge. They all got some hits in before he stood up and pushed them away with a pulse.

"My turn!" Nakanohara yelled, launching forward toward Revanche. She tried to block, but he got through her defenses and threw several punches at her, all of them connecting. Skull ran up to them and swung his newly acquired kanabo at Nakanohara, hitting him off of her.

"Thanks." she said, getting up.

"Let's do this, Agathion!" Joker yelled, switching Persona. Another bolt of lightning struck Nakanohara, once again downing him. The quickly rushed him, and only let up once his Shadow formed dissolved into a black mass and he reappeared as his normal human Shadow self.

"I…I was wrong." Nakanohara said. "Please…forgive me. That bastard, Madarame, used me before throwing me out on the street like everyone who came before me. That's what caused my fixation on her. She was the only one who actually seemed to see something in me. When she left me…"

"Who's this Madarame?" Skull asked. "You keep mentionin' him. Tryin' to put blame on someone else?"

"I just didn't want anyone to throw me out again." he muttered, the defeat in his voice obvious.

"So some selfish bastard was making you suffer too…" Panther trailed off with a sigh.

"I can understand where you're coming from." Revanche said, looking down at him. "Still, that didn't give you the right to drag someone into your mess, especially a woman that you claim to have some connection with."

"I know." he said, almost looking like he was going to start crying. "I'll put an end to my love for her."

"Good." she said.

"Hey…you guys can change people's hearts, right?" he asked, looking up at them. "In that case, change Madarame's heart! Before more people fall victim to him!" he cried out before glowing white and vanishing.

"Change…Madarame's heart?" Panther muttered.

"So, Nakanohara had a change of heart, right?" Skull asked.

"That's right." Mona said.

"But how are we supposed to know if we succeeded?" Panther asked.

"It would stand to reason that since we made it public we would change his heart, someone will most likely comment on that website that he really did have one, right?" Revanche asked, looking at them.

"You do have a point." Mona agreed.

"Either way, trainin' against Shadows down here's the best!" Skull said, looking at them. "It's great prep for our next target!"

"It's also nice to be able to give courage to the people who post their problems online." Panther said.

"Looks like it's also a good way to get money." Joker muttered, walking forward to where Nakanohara had been standing. He reached down and picked up a small pile of yen coins. "This should help with getting supplies."

"Well, I guess we are the Phantom _Thieves_ after all." Revanche said.

"Sounds like things are goin' pretty great for us!" Skull exclaimed.

"Now, what's up with this place?" Panther asked, looking around.

"Better question, who are all these people watching us?" Revanche asked. Joker had noticed it earlier, the crowd that was watching them fight Nakanohara. They had stood silently, not moving or making a sound while they fought. Now that the battle was over, they seemed to be moving to stand in orderly rows as if waiting for a train. A low rumbling sound filled the silence as two trains rolled up next to the crowds. The shadow people got on the trains before they took off.

"…okay…" Skull muttered. "New question, what's with this dead end?"

"I don't think that's an ordinary wall." Mona said, walking up toward it. "Just watch."

"Mona…" Joker trailed off as the cat touched the wall. The place began to shake violently for a moment before the wall opened, revealing another set of stairs leading down into a dark abyss.

"It opened…" Panther muttered. Joker's phone chose that moment to ding, causing him to pull it out and look down at the Meta-nav.

"A new area has been confirmed in the depths. Updating guidance information." the app said.

"See!?" Mona said, hopping in place. "It's just as I thought!"

"What do you mean?" Revanche asked him.

"That wall wouldn't budge when I came here by myself before." he said, turning to look back at where it was for a moment. "But it'd be weird for the deepest part of Mementos to be some normal place like this, wouldn't it?"

"So you were thinkin' there's gotta be more?" Skull asked, crossing his arms while looking down at him.

"Yeah!" Mona replied, looking up at him. "Now that Kamoshida's Palace is gone and people are actually starting to talk about us, I knew something had to have changed down here!"

"How deep is it?" Panther asked. "Should we try going further down?"

"Let's not." Mona answered, shaking his head. "That's not why we're here today, remember? We've already accomplished our goal. We should head back and I'll explain more on the school roof come Monday. I want to get my thoughts in order so I only have to explain it once."

With that, Joker opened his phone and selected the beginning of Mementos.

"Beginning navigation."

-

He looked down at his phone, still not able to believe what someone had posted on that website. The fact that his bitch of an ex-girlfriend had posted his name and place of employment on the stupid thing was bad enough. People started posting access to his social media accounts, and even his personal phone number got listed. He knew the ones posting it must be some of the other employees here at City Hall, but he had no way of knowing who.

Then, someone made a comment saying there were going to make him confess and repent from his so-called "sins" before signing it as the Phantom Thieves of Vengeance. They tagged it with all his social media contacts, and even used the website to send it to him via text message. He tried to see who had sent it, but all that came back was that the number was out of service. Meanwhile, comment after comment was flooding the website as people waited to see if they could change him.

Nakanohara Natsuhiko would be damned before he repented from what they called sins.

It didn't matter what anyone said, Rei was his. No one would take her from him, not even herself. He had lost everything else to that asshole Madarame, he wasn't going to lose Rei as well. She belonged to him, and no one else. It didn't matter how much she tried to get away from him, so far as he was concerned she would be taught her place and she would enjoy it.

He noticed his fellow employees watching him, smirking behind their hands. The idiots really believed this bullshit. Everyone knew these kids pretending to be heroes of justice blackmailed Kamoshida. It was right in the name. They knew what he was like and most likely finally had the evidence to make him confess it himself. Well, these bastards surrounding him would be in for a rude surprise. Those little shits had nothing on him. There was no way they would manage to make him repent from…

"What have I done?" he muttered, his mind racing as it processed his actions. He couldn't believe what he had done to Rei. She had been the only person to remain on his side after Madarame threw him away. She had seen something in him, but his actions had pushed her away. He couldn't let go of what happened to him, and in the end he hurt the woman he loved.

He lowered his head in his hands as he started crying, knowing that it was too late to try and fix his relationship with her. After all that had happened, she would never want to be in the same room with him again, let alone be in a relationship. He knew he would have to call her and apologize before promising to never approach her again.

He could hear his peers whispering about him, but didn't say anything. They deserved to talk about him. After all, he brought shame and dishonor to the government office.

They had every right to talk behind his back.

-

excerpt from

The Phantom Aficionado Website

-

**ANON4165:** I don't know what to do about my ex who's stalking me. His name is Nakanohara Natsuhiko. He's a teller at City Hall. He's been showing up at my place of work and my apartment then does nothing but stand there watching me. Please help.

**ANON4189:** Holy shit, I know him! He's a total asshole!

**ANON4201:** God, you government shitheads are all the same. Go fuck yourselves and die!

**ANON4238** : Get vengeance for all of us, Phantom Thieves!

**ANON4385:** Here's the asshole's Twitter: @Nakahiko.

**ANON4391:** lol, wtf is up with that handle???

**ANON4456:** Here's his mobile! +81-9051107804

**ANON4518:** Gonna doxx, brb

**ANON4540:** To Nakanohara Natsuhiko, the stalking ex-boyfriend from City Hall. We have heard from the masses and the one you have stalked about your actions. We have decided to steal your twisted desires and make you confess and repent from your sins. From, The Phantom Thieves of Vengeance.

**ANON4541:** HOLY SHIT!!!1

**ANON4542:** PHANTOM THIEVES!!!

**ANON4543:** GET FUCKED NAKANOHARA!!!

**ANON4544:** WTF!?! I leave for two fucking seconds, and THIS HAPPENS!?!

**ANON4545:** I'm in the office with him right now! He looks pissed while looking at his phone!

**ANON4546:** Keep up posted, @ANON4545!

**ANON4558:** So…real talk. Could that be a troll post?

**ADMIN:** Believe me, it's not a troll post. That was posted by the real Phantom Thieves.

**ANON4563:** How the fuck do you know, @ADMIN?

**ANON4572:** Troll post. Move along.

**ANON4602:** HOLY FUCK! HE'S HERE CRYING LIKE A BITCH!!!

**ANON4605:** WHAT!?!

**ANON4606:** NO WAY!

**ANON4611:** Also in office with him. Can confirm he is sitting there with his head in his hands crying.

**ANON4618:** Holy shit! HOLY SHIT! HOLY FUCKING SHIT!!! THOSE REALLY WERE THE PHANTOM THIEVES!!!

-

Monday, 5/9

-

AFTER SCHOOL

-

Classes had just ended for the day. While they didn't really need to keep the same level of carefulness they did when Kamoshida was still around, they were still careful to not be seen together as much as possible. The last thing they needed was Niijima finding another reason to suspect them. That did little, however, to stop Mishima from walking up to him as soon as classes ended. Akira stood up and looked down at him, not wanting to give any opportunity for a cheap hit.

It would also allow him to move easier in case Mishima tried shoving him out the window.

"Do you like the website?" he asked, causing Akira to raise an eyebrow. Somehow, he knew what website Mishima was talking about, but he had no intention of encouraging him. Rationalizing that he was as much a victim of Kamoshida as anyone else was one thing. Being able to forgive the way he tripped over himself to try and force Ann and Shiho to go to Kamoshida was something else.

"What website?" Akira asked, watching as Mishima deflated slightly.

"You know, the Phantom Aficionado website." he said, pulling out his phone. He opened it up and held it up to show him. "What do you think of it?"

"Never heard of it." Akira said, taking the phone and looking at it for a moment. He made a show of scrolling through a few pages before saying anything else. "Looks pretty amateurish if you ask me." he continued, handing the phone back. He did his best to hide the smirk as Mishima completely deflated in front of him. It was short-lived, however, as Mishima seemed to perk back up.

"Well, you see, I made the website." he said. "I figured it could help you."

"Help me with what?" he asked, keeping calm.

"Well, you're a Phantom Thief." Mishima said quietly.

"Yeah…sure…I'm a Phantom Thief." Akira said, his voice sarcastic. "Believe me, if I was one, I'd make you repent and get vengeance against you for your crimes."

"That wasn't my fault." Mishima said quickly, looking away. "Kamoshida made me do it."

"You were just following orders, right?" Akira asked, causing Mishima to look up and nod his head quickly. "Same as the Nazis during the second world war." he said, opening his bag and blocking the view of Morgana jumping in. "You're still pulling that 'Kamoshida made me do it' crap, which is evidence enough that I'm not a Phantom Thief. If I were one, you'd be telling everybody just how many girls you led to Kamoshida."

"But…I know you are." Mishima shot back. "I saw you, Saturday. You changed Nakanohara's heart."

"Never heard of her." he said, walking past him. He ignored Mishima's calls after him and made his way to the roof, trying to figure out how Mishima had seen them. Granted, they didn't exactly hide when they entered Mementos, nor did they exactly hide while exiting it. They'd have to test how far they could be while entering it to make sure no one else sees them, or even worse gets dragged in with them.

Had Mishima been dragged in, he didn't know if he could keep Shiho and Ann from killing him. Shiho had seemed to calm down some after Kamoshida's arrest, but the last thing he wanted was something triggering her again.

As nice as she seemed in the real world, she was deadly while in the Metaverse. Combine that with Ann, and you a recipe for disaster if they ever went against the wrong type of person.

He opened the door the roof and walked out, enjoying the warmth of the sun on him for a moment before walking over to the rest of the group. They raised their hands in greeting while scrolling on their phones. He opened his bag and allowed Morgana to jump out and stretch.

"We have a problem." Akira said, getting their attention. "Mishima saw us on Saturday. He knows that we're the Phantom Thieves."

"How did he find out?" Ryuji asked, pocketing his phone.

"Best I can tell he was watching us in Shibuya." Morgana said, shaking his head. "We were careless going in like we did. We could have been seen by anyone, and worse we could have dragged someone in with us. If that happens, we're basically screwed. There would be no way to hide that."

"Which is why from now on, we're going to be careful when we enter there." Akira said.

"Careful when you enter where, exactly?" a soft voice asked from behind them. Akira watched as the others' eyes widened and Morgana jumped out of sight. He took a deep breath before turning around, coming face-to-face with Niijima.

"Madam President." he said, the barest hint of a smirk on his face. He had known continuing to meet up like this at the school was a bad idea, but he never thought it would end like this. "To what do we owe the pleasure of your presence?"

"I was informed that there was an illegal gathering of students on the roof." she said, her voice light. He knew she was probably doing it in order to make their guard lower and let something slip, but all it honestly did was raise his guard higher than when he was dealing with Kamoshida. He knew for a fact that Niijima was busy looking into them as prime suspects. He had no doubt that her finding them like this was only going to make her focus her hunt on them alone. He knew any hope they had of trying to sidetrack her hunt for the Phantom Thieves died the moment she saw them together.

"Last time I checked, it's not a crime in Japan to hang out with friends." Ryuji said, standing up straight. Akira realized whatever effect he was going for seemed lost on her. He could tell they all knew that she held all the cards right now, including Niijima.

"That might be, but right now it _is_ against the rules for students to be on the roof for all non-club activities." she said, smiling at them. "Unless you're a club, that would make your being here an illegal gathering as far as the rules for the school to go."

"Then I guess we'll leave." Akira said before anyone else could say something. He knew Ann and Shiho were not the biggest fans of the student council, especially Niijima. While he might not have agreed with their rant they gave one night in the group chat about their belief that she knew what was going on, it again would do little to stop them.

Hopefully Niijima never ended up getting dragged into the Metaverse. He figured he could at least keep them from killing Mishima since the boy was a wimp. He didn't like his odds of stopping an all-out battle between the three girls.

Somehow, he didn't think the three-way between them that would follow Niijima entering the Metaverse would be all that fun to watch.

"I believe you should." Niijima said, smiling at them. "I'll go last, make sure none of you end up stuck up here."

"How kind of you." Akira said again, turning to look at the rest of the group. "Ladies first."

"Let's go, Shiho." Ann said, taking her arm. "We don't want to make life hard for little Ms. Ass-kisser."

"No, Ann, we don't want to annoy our useless president, do we?" Shiho replied. They walked past her, turning their noses up. Akira watched as cracks started to appear in Niijima's calm appearance, only further leading him to believe he never wanted to see those three in a fight.

"Ryuji, I said ladies first." he said after a moment, turning to look at him.

"Man, eff you." he said, smirking as he walked past him.

"Sorry, I prefer older women." he said, following his friend out. He stopped after a moment and turned to face Niijima. "That reminds me, I met your older sister the other day. I must say, she's very beautiful."

"I know you're doing this on purpose." she said, her voice low. "My sister is one of the greatest prosecutor's in Japan. She works for the Special Investigation Unit. All I have to do is tell her you're the leader of the Phantom Thieves, and you'll be back in jail before you could even utter a word to her. Do you understand that, Kurusu?"

"I suppose that would put a damper on things." he said, watching as Morgana followed Ryuji out of the corner of his eye. He was also glad to note that Niijima didn't see it. "I do have one question, though. It's actually a serious one."

"What is it?" she asked, a glare starting to form in her eyes.

"Does Sae have a type?" he asked, keeping his face neutral. She closed her eyes for a moment before opening them, glaring at him in full force.

"She does." she answered, her jaw tight. "Her type is those who have followed the law their entire lives. Now get out of my sight before I have you suspended!" she yelled.

"Alright, alright, no need to yell." he said, walking toward the door. "If you wanted me gone, all you had to do was ask." he continued, walking through the door. He found Ryuji with Morgana in his bag waiting for him, smirking. They high-fived before walking down the stairs.

"The girls said they'd meet us in Shibuya." he said. "We're going to need somewhere else to meet up at now."

"I know." Akira said. "I might know of a place, but I'll have to check it out first."

-

Makoto continued to stand on the roof, her hands shaking in anger at Kurusu. She knew she held all the cards, and could tell that he knew it as well. She had hoped to make them slip up, to reveal something that she could use. She needed a confession of some kind, a way to pin what happened to Kamoshida on them. While she may privately agree with what they did, the fact remained that they were a threat to the school and the student body now.

She was smart enough to see the signs. The people who survived these mental shutdowns claimed to have no idea what happened. Their personalities completely changed overnight, the same way Kamoshida did. It stood to reason that they managed to find the same way to change someone that the person behind the mental shutdowns did.

She also realized that her actions may have just moved her up the list to give one to.

She had held all the cards when she approached them, yet Kurusu managed to turn it around on her. He took control of the conversation before any of the others could let something slip. He forced the two who could lead to a physical altercation to leave first, and then made sure she would have no time alone to try and get something out of the member with what she believed would be the loosest lips. Then, to add insult to injury he brought up her sister.

Her sister who also seemed to show an unhealthy amount of interest in him, at least as far as she was concerned.

She still remembered the day that Sae had come in and told her about the new transfer student. Sae had found out about him through a favor in the office, and had told her about it. She had gone through his record, and Sae had muttered something about irregularities. When she had asked her, though, all she was given was orders to ignore him and concentrate on her studies.

Then she had mentioned him the week prior during dinner. Makoto had admitted that Kurusu's record had been leaked by someone, and suddenly she was interested in him again. She had noticed Sae once again looking through his record and court documents. She recognized the look in Sae's eyes, the same look she had during a trial-prep where she didn't know how things would go. Of course, it always turned out alright, but she didn't know why she was paying attention now. Kurusu was already tried and found guilty of assault.

Maybe Sae found his probation unusual.

Still, for Kurusu to bring Sae up as flippantly as he did, she wanted to scream. She knew he was buying time for something, and yet she couldn't let it go. She walked right into it, and went from holding all the cards to finding out he had rigged the game. When he asked about Sae's type, she wanted nothing more than to scream in frustration. Even telling him that she only went for those who hadn't broken the law before didn't seem to bother him. His easy dismissal of her as he left only further showed that he really was the one in control.

As she took a deep breath and let it out to center herself again, she couldn’t help the thought that Kurusu probably was Sae's type. She knew her sister hadn't dated anyone in some time now, but something about him and struck her interest. Were the assault charge not to exist and Kurusu be several years older, she had no doubt in her mind that Sae would be interested.

"At least, more interested in him than she is in me." she muttered, walking for the door.

-

"So, you live out here, huh?" Ryuji asked, looking around. Akira nodded his head absently as he led them down the alleyway to Leblanc. He knew they probably wouldn't able to make this a normal thing, but he could only hope that Sojiro wouldn't have any issues with him bringing them over for the afternoon.

At least, he hoped he didn't.

Once they reached the café, he pushed the door opened. There were a couple of customers inside, with Sojiro standing behind the bar. He turned to look at them, and simply cocked an eyebrow. He had spent the majority of the trip here figuring out what he would say, but when faced with actually having to say something he no longer knew what he was going to say.

"Bringing company?" Sojiro asked, causing his brain to reset. He nodded his head.

"We're doing a group project." he said. "We were hoping to use the attic to brainstorm." he continued, realizing he wasn't really lying to Sojiro. They were technically brainstorming for a group project. Just because said group project happened to be their actions carried out under the name of the Phantom Thieves of Vengeance as opposed to a school project didn't mean much. So long as Sojiro never found out the truth, he figured they should be safe.

"I suppose you can." the older man said. "What drinks will you have? On the house." he asked, turning to look at the others.

"I'll have a house blend, please." Shiho said, getting him to nod his head.

"Can you make a mocha?" Ann asked, getting him to nod his head once while both Akira and Shiho shook their heads with small smiles. "I'll have that, please."

"Uh…I really don't drink coffee…" Ryuji said, looking at the jars behind Sojiro.

"So I guess a soda for you, then." Sojiro said, a small smirk spreading across his face. "Don't worry about it, I didn't drink coffee when I was your age, either." he continued before turning to face Akira. "Take them on up and get them situated. You can come back down to take drinks up in a few minutes."

"Sure thing." he said. The rest of the group nodded in thanks as the passed. He lead them up the stairs and walked into the middle of the room. "Well, welcome to my little slice of paradise."

"It's…spacious." Shiho said, looking around.

"I really wish I knew why he had to stay here, though." Morgana said, jumping out of Ryuji's bag and stretching. "The Chief has what looks like a big house. We should be allowed to stay there."

"I kinda like it here." Akira said, shrugging. "So long as I don't do anything to upset the café, I'm left to my own devices. If he doesn't want me in his house, fine. Believe me, Morgana, this is far better than the alternative. Now, make yourselves at home. I'm going to go down and grab the drinks." he said, making his way back down into the café. Just before his head cleared the floor, he heard the one sentence he did not want to hear.

"Okay, Morgana. Where does Akira keep his porn stash?" Ryuji asked.

"God, seriously Ryuji?" Ann asked.

"What's a porn stash?" Morgana asked.

"You saw what Akira said in the group chat, Ryuji." Shiho said, the laugh obvious in her voice. "You corrupt him, you explain it."

"I'm going to kill Ryuji…" Akira muttered, finishing his walk into the café.

-

"Niijima Makoto." Shiho said.

"No candidate found." the Meta-nav replied, causing her let out a groan. They had been at it for the better part of an hour, trying out different names from the Phantom Aficionado website. About half of them had targets in Mementos, but so far no one was a big target.

"Any luck on this Madarame?" Ryuji asked, looking over at Akira.

"We'd be here all week trying every different name that can go with it." Akira replied, causing Ryuji to let out a sigh. "This may be a bust."

"Wait, Ann." Shiho said, looking up at her. "Wasn't there an artist you liked who's doing some exhibit here in a few days? Wasn't his name also Madarame?"

"You don't think it could be him, do you?" Ann asked. Akira merely shrugged and looked up the artist's name.

"It's not like we have any better ideas." he said, finding it. " Madarame Ichiryusai."

"Candidate found." the Meta-nav replied. They all sat up in shock.

"Holy effin' shit." Ryuji said.

"Let's see." Akira said. " Madarame Ichiryusai, Mementos."

"No candidate found." the Meta-nav replied.

"That means he has a Palace." Morgana said, causing them to look at him. "We just found our next big target."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who read my story The Phantom Thieves of New Game+, my hatred of Mishima is well known. Mishima will not, however, play a part in this story. His involvement pretty much ends here.


	7. My Favorite Sin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Internet points to anyone except my beta (who didn't know the reference until I told her) who gets the reference of this title.

Tuesday, 5/10

-

EARLY MORNING

-

Sometimes, Ann hated being a model. Sure, there were things about it that she liked, but they all paled in comparison to the biggest negative. She looked over her shoulder once again, trying to get rid of the feeling of being watched. She had tried to ignore the feeling the past few days, but this time she knew she was being followed. At first she had thought it may have been the student council president trying to see if one of them would let something slip as opposed to Akira, but that had been dashed when she spotted her already on a train while she still had the feeling of being watched. Whomever was following her was someone different.

She knew once she got on the main path to the school, the person would leave her be. She didn't know if that was because they were a student and didn't want to be recognized as the one following her, or if they were not a student at Shujin and didn't want to be caught stalking her. She briefly wondered if maybe it was Nakanohara, but quickly pushed that thought aside. They had managed to change his heart, and the comments from the Phantom Aficionado website had shown that he had changed.

"Yo." she heard from behind her, startling her. She spun around and looked at Ryuji, trying to get her heart out of her throat.

"Don't scare me like that!" she shouted at him. He laughed for a moment before it died down.

"Hey, you alright?" he asked, his face quickly becoming concerned. She shook her head and dragged him toward the school, looking over her shoulder again. "Seriously Ann, what's up?"

"Someone's been following me." she said, causing him to stiffen up.

"Fo'real?" he asked, turning his head to look behind them.

"It's been going on for a few days, now." she said, causing him to snap back toward her. "I thought maybe it was our student council president, but I've already proven it's not. I don't know what to do."

"Well first thing you should've done was told one of us." he said, turning to look at her. "If someone's stalkin' you, we can help fight back against them. You don't need to be alone in this, Ann. We'll come up with a plan and capture the effin' asshole, got it?"

"Yeah." she said, allowing herself to breathe easier now that they were nearing the school. As much as she hated what happened to her, she never thought she'd see the day when she thought being at the school would be safer than not being there.

-

LUNCH

-

Akira was once again eating his lunch alone when his phone buzzed. He took a quick look around and pulled it out, holding it low enough for Morgana to see it.

**SKULL:** So, we need to talk about something.

**SKULL:** Someone is stalking Ann.

**REVANCHE:** WHAT!?

"What!?" Morgana said loudly. Akira quickly pushed him further back into his desk as a few students looked around for a moment. He ignored his phone buzzing and tried his best to look as unassuming as possible until everyone went back to their normal everyday lunch activities. He let Morgana slowly come back out of the desk, giving him a glare. "Sorry." he muttered. Akira simply nodded and brought his phone back up in order to catch up on the discussion he missed, doing his best to ignore the eyes on his back from the student who sat behind him.

**REVANCHE:** Ann, why didn't you say something!?

**PANTHER:** I didn't want to cause trouble!

**PANTHER:** Besides, I thought it was the student council president!

**REVANCHE:** And what if it was some yakuza trying to kidnap you!?

**SKULL:** We need to come up with a way to stop that from happening.

**SKULL:** Hey Bro, any ideas?

**SKULL:** Akira?

**PANTHER:** I know he was in the classroom when I left.

**REVANCHE:** You don't think Miss. President is accosting him, do you?

**JOKER:** I'm fine. Niijima wasn't the problem. Morgana screaming out in shock was.

**JOKER:** Had to wait for things to calm down before I could continue.

"Well excuse me for being shocked that Lady Ann was being stalked." Morgana said darkly.

"I don't mind you being shocked." Akira whispered. "Just remember that you're a cat out here, and I'm not supposed to have you here."

"I know, I know." he muttered. "I'm sorry."

**SKULL:** So any ideas, Bro?

**JOKER:** I think we capture the stalker.

**JOKER:** That, or find some way to figure out their name and change them in Mementos.

**JOKER:** Any ideas who they are, Ann?

**PANTHER:** No.

**PANTHER:** I'm pretty sure they don't attend Shujin, though.

**REVANCHE:** Why do you say that?

**PANTHER:** They usually stop following me once I start my way down the main path to school.

**JOKER:** But they follow you outside the station?

**PANTHER:** Yes.

**JOKER:** Then I know where to ambush them.

**JOKER:** We strike tomorrow morning.

-

Wednesday, 5/11

-

EARLY MORNING

-

Ann had to admit, the plan itself was simplistic. She watched as Akira and Ryuji made their way up to the street several meters in front of her, while Shiho stayed behind her a few meters. She rolled her shoulder slightly from the unaccustomed weight in her school bag. A quick brush-up against Akira had allowed Morgana to jump into her bag. If things went sideways, he promised to scratch up the face of whomever was stalking her and allow her to get away.

She just hoped it wouldn't come to that.

As she rode up the escalator to the street, she could feel the stalker's eyes on her. She reached down and smoothed the back of her skirt, feeling her jacket where she had tied it around her waist in order to make it harder for the creep to see up her skirt. She took a deep breath as the escalator evened out and stepped off, making her way toward where she saw Akira and Ryuji hanging out.

"Someone's following you." Morgana whispered to her from inside the bag. "Revanche is right behind him. Remember, if he tries anything, I'll hold him off while you get away."

Ann knew this was the hardest part. She gulped and stopped walking. She felt her heart beating inside her chest, and wished she had her whip and submachine gun. She watched as Akira and Ryuji started walking toward her as Morgana hissed slightly. The two quickly broke apart and walked up behind her, blocking her. She felt Morgana jump from the bag and turned around to see him perched on Akira's shoulder, ready to jump on the face of her stalker.

Her stalker who appeared to be their age, wearing a uniform to another school.

"What the hell's your problem!?" she shouted at him, watching as Shiho closed in behind him. A few people turned and watched them. She had to admit, Akira was right that they should do this in public. It would make it far harder for the stalker to do anything.

"I'm sorry?" he asked. His voice sounded refined, something that didn't really seem to match the level of creep he had been showing.

"Why have you been stalkin' her, you effin' creep!?" Ryuji asked loudly to draw attention, standing at his full height.

"Who are you?" he asked, looking at Ryuji. "Also, why is your hair dyed such an awful color? Do you have no sense of taste? The color balance is off, and-"

"Answer the question." Akira said, cutting him off with his hard voice. Her stalker turned to face him, and seemed to be struck into silence by the look Akira was giving him. She had heard the rumors about how evil Akira was, obviously, but she had never put much thought into them. Though she couldn't see what the look Akira was giving him was, she honestly never wanted to see it.

"Your eyes… that intense look… perhaps you would be willing if she is not." he said. That threw them all off guard, except for Akira.

"I prefer older women." Akira said, causing Ryuji to shake his head for a moment. Ann turned to look at him, remembering how Ryuji had made a comment about Akira wanting to interrogate the student council president in order to find out information about her older sister. She had more or less written it off as a joke, but now she wondered.

"I suppose there is something alluring in the mature look of someone older." he said, looking aside for a moment. "I haven't had much luck convincing one, though."

"Okay, new plan." Shiho said, grabbing his arm. She twisted it behind his back, causing him to gasp out in pain. "Who are you!? Why are you stalking my friend!?"

"That hurts!" he yelled.

"If you don't answer our questions, I'll make it actually hurt." she said as a car pulled up, the window lowering as it came to a stop.

"Yusuke!" an old man yelled from the back. They turned and looked, only for their eyes to widen in surprise. Shiho let him go in her surprise as well. The old man got out of the car and walked up to them. He looked at them for a moment before speaking again. "Is there some reason you are ganging up on my pupil?"

"He's been stalking me for the better part of a week." Ann said, pulling his attention. "My friends decide to ambush him and find out why, though he's been very quiet on the matter."

"Yusuke, what have I told you about causing problems for other people?" the old man said, turning to face the now named boy. "I've told you that one of these days you would be attacked like this." he continued before turning to face her. "I apologize for the actions of my pupil. Young Yusuke here has been in a bit of a slump as he's trying to find a model for a new piece." he told her, giving her a smile.

"I see." Ann said, trying to ignore the alarm bells ringing in her head. Even though they hadn't met yet to go over their findings about the man currently standing in front of them, the rumors she had read were disturbing. Add on how fake the smile he had on his face seemed, and she realized that Madarame really was someone who was deserving of having a Palace. "I didn't know an artist such as yourself would take on a pupil."

"So you've heard of me!" he said loudly, giving a small laugh. "Yes, I occasionally take on those who show promise. Young Yusuke here is by far the most promising to have come my way in years."

"Slump or not, tryin' to find a model or not, it doesn't give him a right to stalk our friend like that." Ryuji said, causing Madarame to face him. He stood there looking at him for a moment before nodding his head in agreement.

"You are, of course, correct." he said, reaching up to stroke his beard slightly. "Please, allow me to make it up to you all. I'm hosting an exhibit soon. Please, come and see it on opening day. Yusuke, give them some tickets. We must be going soon."

"Of course, Sensei." Yusuke spoke up for the first time since Madarame appeared. He pulled out a container and opened it as Madarame walked back to the car, showing that it contained tickets. He pulled out four of them and handed them to Ann. "I do apologize for my actions. As Sensei said, I am trying to find a new model. I would like to use you as one."

"I'll… think about it." she said, causing him to smile and nod his head. With that, he turned and walked to the car that Madarame was sitting in. It quickly turned back into traffic and left them there.

"I don’t like him." Morgana said, hoping off Akira's shoulder and into his bag.

"Yeah, no surprise there." Ryuji muttered.

"Ann, you're not seriously thinking of doing this, are you?" Shiho asked, looking at her. She looked back at her as Akira and Ryuji turned to face her. She looked down at the tickets for a moment before looking back up at them.

"We know that Madarame has a Palace." she said, sliding her back off her should to put the tickets away. "Nakanohara claimed that Madarame stole everything from him. Maybe going there will give us clues in order to see what needs to be done."

"I guess I can't really argue with that logic." Akira said. "Now, what about modeling for him?"

"I don't know." she said, reaching up to rub the back of her neck for a moment. "I'd have to ask my agency first to see if they'd let me."

"Agency?" Akira and Morgana asked at the same time. Ann looked at them for a moment with a confused look to match theirs before Ryuji slung his arm around Akira's shoulders.

"Yeah, Bro. See, you're friends with a world-class fashion model." he said, causing Akira to look at him in shock for a moment before turning to look at her.

"You're a fashion model?" he asked.

"I guess you could say that." Ann said, blushing slightly. "I'm not a 'world-class' one, though. I just model new fashions for some magazines."

"Wait, so you mean others have seen these!?" Morgana asked, half climbing out of Akira's bag. "You mean perverted monkeys like Ryuji here have seen you modeling!?"

"What was that!?" Ryuji snarled, looking at Morgana.

"No!" Ann yelled before looking around. She noticed they were drawing attention, something they didn't want to do. "I model clothes, nothing super revealing."

"I like seeing you modeling clothes." Shiho said, causing her blush and Akira to smirk. "Seriously, Morgana, it's nothing that bad. I can even bring a few copies of the magazines she's been in the next time we go to Leblanc and let you see for yourself."

"You…kept them?" Ann asked, blushing even harder. She knew why her blush grew, but still didn't want to say anything. She knew had Ryuji admitted to keeping copies, she probably would have been blushing in embarrassment while slapping him across the face. For Shiho to have kept the copies she showed her…

"Yeah, I did." Shiho answered, a slight blush starting to grow on her face. They stood there staring at each other for a moment before someone cleared their throat, drawing their attention. They turned and saw a police officer looking at them.

"Is there some reason you four are standing here instead of attending your classes?" he asked, his voice stern. Ryuji pulled his phone and checked the time for them, nearly dropping it.

"Shit!" he yelled, pocketing it. "We're late!" he yelled, sprinting toward the school. They quickly ran after him, all thoughts on what had just happened forgotten for the moment.

-

"So she is the one you wish to paint for me?" Madarame asked after Yusuke closed the door. He looked over toward the man he called his Sensei and nodded his head.

"You have seen her." he said simply. "Her beauty will be enough to ensure your final piece will be forever remembered. If she agrees, I will paint you a piece that shall be eclipsed only by the long lost Sayuri."

"And if she won't agree to it?"

"If you do not mind a male model, I believe her friend would make a good model." Yusuke replied, turning to look at him. "The one with dark hair and fake glasses, not the uncivilized one."

"Trying to use a male model will be harder, Yusuke." he said, looking at him. "I have never done one. Why would I start now, at the end?"

"If I may, your most famous piece is the lost Sayuri." Yusuke said, getting him to nod his head for him to continue. "It was of a woman looking into a void, questioning everything. Her smile is that of the Mona Lisa, forever a mystery. I believe I can capture a similar essence with her friend. Since you claim it will be your final piece, I believe having a male as the subject would pair nicely with the Sayuri."

"I suppose you are correct." Madarame said. "Very well. If the girl will not agree, use her male friend. Do not fail me this time, Yusuke. This exhibit was supposed to open with my new piece. If I do not have one to close it with, you will find out what happens first hand to pupils who disappoint me."

"I understand, Sensei." Yusuke said, bowing his head.

He could admit, if only to himself, how much he hated the man. Numerous pieces he made bore his Sensei's signature instead of his. So far as he knew, the only actual piece that Madarame had ever painted were several scenic pieces and the Sayuri. Everything else was taken from former pupils of his, hopefuls that had their talents drained. Nevertheless, Yusuke knew he would continue to paint for his Sensei. His Sensei took him in after his mother's accident while working under him. The least he could do to repay his Sensei was to offer his works to him.

At least, that's how it seemed at times.

-

AFTER SCHOOL

-

Once again, they had decided to meet up at Leblanc. After once again taking the girls orders on the house (Ryuji had decided he would simply grab something from a vending machine), Sojiro had shoved them up into the attic with orders to not disturb his customers. The students had agreed, realizing that something else was going on between the man and Akira.

"So, I got a hold of my agency over lunch." Ann said, sipping the coffee. She closed her eyes for a moment and let the rich chocolate flavor mixed with the bitterness of the coffee help calm her. She opened them again and looked at the group. "They believe that working with the pupil of a world- renowned artist would be good for my image, provided nothing scandalous happens. Provided this Yusuke agrees to that, then I have permission to model for him."

"So, I was looking up this exhibit during lunch, and found something interesting." Shiho said, drawing their attention. "Originally, Madarame was supposed to open the exhibit with an announcement that he would be retiring from producing art. He was also supposed to reveal his final masterpiece during the opening ceremony. However, it appears that at the last minute something changed and now he's going to end the exhibit with his final masterpiece. The art world is apparently up in arms about it because he's considered one of the most talented artist in the modern world."

"Considerin' what we've heard about him, that's kinda suspicious if you ask me." Ryuji said, taking a drink from his bottle of soda. "You thinkin' the piece this Yusuke is doing is gonna be this 'final masterpiece' for Madarame?"

"Maybe." she said. "Nakanohara did say that Madarame stole everything from him."

"Part of that doesn't make any sense, though." Akira said. "Say Ann goes through with this. The four of us know that Yusuke would be the one who painted it. If Madarame closed his show saying that he was the one who did it, we could go and claim otherwise. The fact that Ann's agency had to give the okay would also bring a lot of legal action against them."

"They don't know about my agency, though." Ann said. She shook her head and let out a small sigh. "I'm not some idol or big movie star. It's not like he approached Risette or Takeba Yukari. So far as they're concerned, I'm some nobody on the street. Until I tell them, they would have no clue."

"Don't tell them." Morgana said, drawing their attention.

"Uh… why shouldn't she tell them, Cat?" Ryuji asked, causing Morgana to turn and glare at him.

"I am not a cat!" he yelled at him. "As for why not, we use it as our final trump card."

"How so?" Ann ask.

"Right now, we only know that Madarame has a Palace." he explained. "We don't know the keywords to enter it. If we agree to have Lady Ann model for this painting, and he claims it as his own instead of this Yusuke thing, we can have her agency move to press charges of fraud. It may not make him confess anything, but it would call into question every piece he has ever done."

"I suppose that could work." Akira muttered.

"This Yusuke thing?" Ryuji asked.

"Yes, the thing that dared to stalk and harass Lady Ann." Morgana said, looking up smugly.

"Can we get back to this idea?" Ann asked, drawing their attention. While flattered in some sense that Morgana was protective of her, it was also getting old quick. Were it not for the fact that she knew for a fact, or at least hoped for a fact, that he was pretty innocent in his talking, she probably would have hit him by now. "What do we do if he pushes for something that would be considered scandalous?"

"What, like go full nude?" Ryuji asked with a small leer.

"Fu… fu… full nude!?" Morgana stuttered, his eyes widening as Shiho reached over and slapped Ryuji across the back of the head.

Hard.

"Jeez, that hurts." he muttered, rubbing the back of his head. It did little to stop his leer from turning into a smirk.

"Lady Ann… fully nude…!?"

"What the hell, Ryuji!?" Ann snapped at him, her face having turned red. He simply looked up at her and cocked an eyebrow.

"Well, it would be scandalous." he said.

"A fully nude… Lady Ann… being seen by the world!?"

"Thank you for giving my cat a complex, Ryuji." Akira said calmly.

"What are friends for?" he said, his smirk growing even more.

"What the hell's going up there!?" Sojiro yelled from the bottom of the stairs. Ann quickly ran over and looked down, flashing the older man an embarrassed smile.

"Sorry." she said. "Ryuji was screwing around with Morgana, and Shiho and I were letting our displeasure known to him for it."

"Just remember I'm trying to run a business down here." he said. "I don't mind if you use the attic for you project, but if it starts to interrupt with my business, I'll kick all of you out, including the cat."

"We're sorry." she said, giving him an apologetic smile. He continued to look at her for a moment before nodding and turning back to go behind the bar. She heard someone else, most likely a woman, talking, but didn't know who it was. She quickly went back to her seat, stopping to slap Ryuji across the back of the head herself. She picked up Morgana and sat back on her seat.

"Lady Ann, you can't do it!" he said, looking up at her. "If that Yusuke thing tries to make you get nude for a painting, it wouldn't be worth it!"

"I'm not going to, Morgana." she said, stroking his fur. She smiled softly as he started to purr and lean into the strokes. "If he tries to pull that, I'll walk out of there, Madarame's Palace be damned."

"I think that's a good idea as well." Akira said. "We'll try and figure out just what Madarame's keywords are. Provided we find them, we'll go in and get vengeance for those who he's robbed. Otherwise, we use this painting of Ann as a method to find out just what he's been up to. Everyone agree?"

"Sounds good." Ryuji said.

"Seems like our best bet right now." Shiho said.

"I'll let Yusuke know during the opening ceremony." Ann said.

"Then let's leave it up to Lady Ann." Morgana said.

"Now that we know what we're doin', I should probably get going." Ryuji said, pulling his phone out to look at the time. "I promised my mom I'd help with something this evening."

"Aw, who's a good son?" Ann asked mockingly, causing them to laugh. "Want to get dinner, Shiho?"

"Sure." she said, smiling at her. Ann again tried to ignore how much she liked it when Shiho smiled at her. She didn't want to ruin one of the best friendships she had over something like an unrequited love confession, especially after what her best friend had gone through.

"I'll walk you guys to the station." Akira said, standing up. He grabbed their mugs and walked down the stairs, only to stop when he saw who was sitting at the bar. Ann almost crashed into him, and looked over his shoulder to see who had caught his attention. She didn't recognize the woman sitting there, but the red eyes sure looked familiar.

"Ms. Niijima." he said, sounding shocked.

"Imagine my surprise when Sakura here told me that you were rooming here." she said in way of greeting. "I was hoping to speak with you about something."

"Uh…sure." he said, nodding his head. Ann noticed that for the first time since she had met him, he actually seemed unsure of what he was going to do. "I told them I'd walk them to the station. I'll be back in a few minutes."

"I'll be waiting here." she replied. Ann managed to hide a giggle that wanted to escape as Akira nodded his head a few times before continuing to stand there. It lasted only a moment as he seemed to remember where he was and just what he had been doing. She watched as he rushed to the sink and put their empty mugs in to soak before waving them toward the door. They headed out and he followed behind them.

"So, that's the student council president's older sister, huh?" Shiho asked after a moment.

"Yeah, that's her." Akira replied.

"I guess I can see why you like her." she said. Ann tried to ignore how much it hurt to hear Shiho say that, even if she could admit to herself that she was right. The older Niijima was beautiful, that was for sure.

"Yeah Bro." Ryuji said, the smirk evident in his voice despite Ann not turning to look at him. "I can totally see why you'd become a cougar-chaser for her."

"So, I was a bit more concerned with other things last time it was brought up, but…what's a cougar- chaser?" Morgana asked, having jumped down from the attic window to join them.

"Damn it, Ryuji." Akira said. "Can you please stop corrupting my cat."

"Hey, Ann was the first one to corrupt him!" he shot back. "I'm not the one who brought up rimjobs in the chat."

"You know what he said, Ryuji, you corrupt the pure member, you explain it." Ann said, her voice in a sing-song tone while conveniently ignoring his comment about her. He sighed and shook his head before turning to look down at Morgana.

"You see, Morgana, a cougar is a term for an older woman." Ryuji said, causing Akira to shake his head. "Someone who's younger than them but likes them is called a cougar-chaser. Since Akira here would like to bone Niijima's older sister, that makes him a cougar-chaser."

"Ryuji, I don't mind getting an actual assault charge." Akira said, causing Ann and Shiho to laugh.

"You're no fun, Akira." Shiho said through her laugh as they reached the stairs leading down to the station. He simply shook his head at them as they turned to face him. "Well, see you later."

"Bye, Akira. Bye Morgana." Ann said, giving them both a smile.

"Enjoy your date with Niijima." Ryuji said, smirking.

"I don't mind an assault charge, Ryuji." Akira said again, causing him to laugh. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

-

It was a few minutes later when Akira walked back into Leblanc. He had convinced Morgana to go back up through the window, knowing that Sojiro would not take kindly to a cat running around inside the café proper. As he walked in, he saw Sae sitting in a booth facing the door, a worn leather-bound file-holder sitting in front of her along with a cup of coffee. In front of the other seat was another cup of coffee, most likely his. She looked up and pointed toward the seat. He nodded his head and sat down, picking up the cup of coffee to take a sip.

"I have to say, your criminal record is interesting." she said as way of greeting. He simply looked up at her and was once again reminded of the truth. She was a prosecutor. She worked with law enforcement. She was off limits, despite all the teasing he knew he would take from his so-called friends. "Your trial also makes for an interesting read to anyone who cares." she continued, looking down to shuffle a few pages. "You were set up."

"What makes you say that?" he asked, trying to keep the hope out of his voice as she looked up at him. Based on the look she gave him, he could tell he wasn't able to.

"During your trial, you were never allowed to take the stand in your own defense." she said, looking back down at the paper. "Your statement given to the arresting officers was never read. Your appointed lawyer was shown to have never once spoken to you or your family and immediately issues a plea of guilty without ever cross-examining the single witness. The man you apparently assaulted never made an appearance, nor do any documents have his name. The only other witness, a woman with again no listed name, gave testimony from a piece of typed paper. Any prosecutor worth anything would be able to tell you that you were set up."

"So you believe I'm innocent?" he asked, knowing he wasn't able to keep the hope out of his voice. He knew the hope wasn't because he would feel better about being attracted to her if she believed him, though he was honest enough to admit that a small part of it was because of that, but mostly from the simple fact that so few people believed he was.

"Tell me what happened that night." she said, looking at him. He looked at her for a moment before nodding his head.

"I was walking home from school." he said, reaching down to take a sip of his coffee. "I heard a woman crying out for help. I walked over that way and saw a man trying to force her into his car. When I approached, he told me to leave them alone. He was so drunk that I was able to smell the alcohol on his breath even from a distance. I got between them and he tripped on his own two feet. He scratched his head against a sidewalk divider, and started bleeding. At the same time, two cops arrived in regards to a call about a disturbance. They seemed to know who the man was, and he informed them I had randomly assaulted him. He made the woman agree with him. The two cops then arrested me."

"Judging by your previous criminal record, or more accurately your lack of one, I'm more inclined to believe that is the truth." she said, causing his eyes to widen. He really hated how much hearing her say that meant to him, but he couldn't help himself. "Of course, convincing one lowly prosecutor, even one who works with the SIU, won't mean much with how your paperwork is filled out."

"Why do you say that?" he asked.

"Whomever is behind this is most likely a politician." she said, looking down at the papers again. "There is no name listed, on any document. No signature, no nothing. So far as these papers tell, the man who is behind this doesn't even exist." she continued, looking up at him. "At best, all fighting this would gain would be the possibility of maybe forcing the man who accused you to make himself known. I'm sure that's not the answer you'd like to hear, but it's the truth."

"The fact that someone actually believes me is enough." Akira said, giving her a small smile. "Those three who were with me are the only ones who believe that I didn't do anything."

"I know what a rigged case looks like." she said, looking down to close the file-holder. "Once you notice the insane levels someone went to make sure you version of what happened never saw the light of day, it is enough to convince me that you were falsely accused."

"I know I just said that having someone believe me is enough, but…" he trailed off, looking away for a moment. "Is there _any_ hope that I could fight this?"

"No." she said softly. He turned and looked back at her, already having known the answer before he asked. "Your best bet would be to live out your probation. Once it ends in a year, your record will be sealed. There will always be a note that you had one, but for the most part it will be ignored by any honest school or company."

Akira understood the hidden meaning behind that wording. An honest school or company would accept him, seeing as he was rehabilitated or see the record as him having made a mistake in his youth and having paid for it. Most places, however, weren't honest. They would see the note that he had a sealed criminal record and immediately terminate his application.

"The only way would be…" she trailed off, looking back down at the notes. "This woman…she would have to change her testimony. Odds are, though, you would still need to have the person who was behind this come forward. They would have to be hit with a lot of investigations for, and I'm sorry to say this, far more serious crimes than rigging an assault charge against a random teenager. Still, if she were to recant her testimony, it would allow a note to be added to your sealed record that the actual crime was questionable. It would make some things easier, if nothing else."

"So in other words there's no way." he muttered.

"I'm sorry, Kurusu." she said, reaching over to place her hand on top of his. She squeezed it for a moment before pulling away. He looked up at her as she leaned back. "Someone very high up paid a lot of money to make sure the only name listed was yours. This case should have been reviewed by the SIU because of the obvious irregularities, and yet nothing was ever submitted. Your parents should have submitted an appeal for it be reviewed if nothing else."

"Considering they had been trying to get rid of me and saw this as the perfect opportunity, I'm not surprised they didn't." he muttered. He shook his head to clear the thought away and looked up at her. He gave her a tired smile. "I understand that nothing much can be done to help. Like I said, I'm just happy that someone else believes me now. It's really bad when I count those who believe me, decide to include my cat, and still have a finger left on the one hand I'm counting on."

"Well, then I guess the next time you convince someone you are innocent, you can start counting on your other hand." she said, giving him a small smile as well.

"You already can." Sojiro said, drawing their attention. He stood behind the bar and crossed his arms. "It was pretty obvious from the start that you didn't actually commit any crime other than being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I know the kind of people your parents are. Truth be told, that was half the reason I took you in. I can't honestly say that I was surprised with how they acted."

"I thought you said-"

"I know what I said." he said, cutting Akira off. "For the most part, what I said was true. I'm sure she'll agree with it. You stuck your nose somewhere it didn't belong, and now you have a record for it."

"I know." Akira said, looking back down at the now empty coffee cup. "I know."

-

EVENING

-

It was after midnight, and Akira couldn't sleep. His mind was still reeling at the knowledge that both Sae and Sojiro believed he was innocent. He knew six people (or rather, five people and a cat who claimed to be a human) wasn't much to go on, but it beat everyone thinking he was a criminal. Still, something Sojiro had said kept him up until now. The man claimed to know what kind of people his parents were, yet he had never met or even heard of the man until he was sent off to Tokyo to live with him.

What kind of person _was_ Sakura Sojiro?

Slowly, in order to not wake up Morgana, he pulled his phone from his pocket and opened the Meta-nav. He didn't know what he was expecting or hoping, but he knew his curiosity would never leave him until he saw it with his own eyes.

"Sakura Sojiro." he whispered.

"No candidate found." the Meta-nav replied. He shook his head slightly and smirked for a moment before it faded. While it was comforting to know that his current guardian didn't have a distorted heart, he also knew that he didn't pull out his phone to check on the man. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"Kurusu Takashi." he whispered.

"Candidate found." the Meta-nav replied. He looked at the name on the Meta-nav's display for a moment before he took another deep breath.

"Kurusu Kaede."

"Candidate found."

"Kurusu Takashi, Mementos."

"No candidate found."

"Kurusu Kaede, Mementos."

"No candidate found."

With that, he closed out the Meta-nav and put his phone back in his pocket. Despite knowing he shouldn't be surprised, he honestly was at the emotion he felt with what he found out. Rather, he was more surprised at the emotions he _didn't_ feel. He didn't feel anger, sorrow, or even shock at what he had just found out. From the moment he found out about them, from the moment Morgana had explained what they were in and how they were formed, he had zero doubt in his mind that what he just learned would be the truth.

Both his parents had Palaces.

With that, he felt his eyes grow heavy, and fell asleep.

-

He opened his eyes, seeing the blue hues as the piano music reverberated around the jail cell. He threw his legs over the edge of the bed and stood up, making his way toward the door to face Igor.

"I welcome you back to my Velvet Room, Trickster." he said, leaning forward slightly. "Once again, you have managed to do something I had not foreseen you possibly doing. You have managed to not only start, but even change how the Judgment arcana is to play out."

"Is that good?" Akira asked. All he got as a response was a deep chuckle.

"We shall have to see." Igor said as a siren started ringing.

-

Thursday, 5/12

-

EARLY MORNING

-

By the time morning came along and he was on his way to school, he had brushed off any feelings he may have had in regards to his parents having Palaces. He tried to tell himself that he should feel something in regards to it, but he still couldn't bring himself to care. Still, so long as the others never caught wind of it, he assumed it would be fine for the most part. He supposed that was one of the upsides to not really caring or being surprised by it.

"Hey Akira!" he heard Ann call from behind him. He turned around and watched as she approached with Shiho. He nodded to them as Morgana stuck his head out to look at them as well.

"Good morning, Lady Ann, Revanche!" he said, getting Ann to let out a small laugh as she reached up to scratch his head between the ears.

"Good morning to you too, Morgana." she said before turning to look at Akira once again. "So…how was your big date last night?" she asked, her voice taking on a teasing tone.

"I do hope you were chaperoning the two love birds, weren't you Morgana?" Shiho continued, her voice more serious than Ann's. Still, he could see a hint of amusement in her eyes. He assumed he could handle being the butt of a new joke for a while if it amused her.

"Well, this one sent me away before beginning his attempts at cougar-chasing." Morgana said, butting his head with his paw. "However, I am not a world-class gentleman thief for nothing! I managed to hide away and listen in to make sure Joker did nothing unbecoming of the gentleman thief he himself is. I am proud to say that he handled himself pretty well."

"Which reminds me, I owe Ryuji several punches to the face." Akira muttered, causing Ann and Shiho to laugh.

"He'd claim it is worth it." Shiho said, causing him to smirk.

"Yeah, he would claim that." he agreed as the train pulled up. They made their way onto it and Akira managed to get Ann and Shiho seats. They gave him small smiles in thanks as they sat down and he stood next to them. They were silent for the rest of the journey to the school, keeping an eye out for the student council president or anyone else that looked like they may try and cause trouble. With everyone trying to get to school, however, people more or less paid little attention to them. That lasted until they exited the train and reached the street when Akira felt an arm thrown across his shoulders.

"'Sup!" Ryuji said, pulling him close. "How was your date last night? Is the student council president going to be calling you brother from now on? Are wedding bells in your future? Have you made me an uncle yet?"

"Ryuji." Akira said, turning to look at him.

"Yeah?" he replied, still smirking. The smirk left his face as Akira punched him in the stomach as hard as he could. Ryuji dropped to a knee, sucking in his breath.

"That's one." Akira said while Ann and Shiho looked down at him trying to hide their giggles. "Do you still think these jokes are worth it?"

"Still…do." Ryuji wheezed out, smirking up at him as the girls gave up all pretense of trying to hide their laughter. Akira simply sighed and shook his head before offering Ryuji a hand up.

"I need to find new friends." he muttered, knowing the small smile on his face took any seriousness he had with that statement away.

-

Sunday, 5/12

-

DAYTIME

-

The day finally came. They had tried to figure out what Madarame's keywords were, but so far had come up empty handed. Though he really didn't want to go, Ryuji knew that he had to go and help the others at the art exhibit. The four of them made their way inside after showing their tickets, and Ryuji was still biting his tongue after how the person at the door had looked at him for a moment before allowing him inside.

"So crowded…" he heard Morgana mutter from Akira's bag. He looked over and shook his head.

"It'll be a pain in the ass if someone sees you, so don't stick your heard out too much, all right?" he whispered. He watched Morgana narrow his eyes at him for a moment before hiding back in the Mona bag. He saw Shiho tense up next to Ann as someone made their way loudly over toward them.

"You came!" he heard Ann's stalker, Yusuke, exclaim. He turned and looked at the rest of them, and raised an eyebrow. "You really came." he said, his voice flat.

"What'd you expect when you left us those tickets?" Ryuji asked him, crossing his arms defiantly.

"If you really thought we were going to let her come alone, then you _obviously_ have mental issues." Shiho said, her voice dark. Yusuke turned to her and rubbed his arm while taking a step back. Part of Ryuji wondered just how badly that had to have hurt, what she did to him, while another part was just happy it had happened to someone else and not him.

"Yes, well…" Yusuke trailed off for a moment before clearing his throat. He turned back to him and nodded his head slightly. "Just make sure that you don't get in the way of the visitors."

"We'll do our best not to." Akira said before he could open his mouth and say anything. Yusuke looked at him for a moment before nodding his head and turning back to Ann.

"Come now." he said, beckoning with his hand. "I'll show you around. I'd like to speak more about the picture I'd like to draw, as well."

"Yes, let's see what's here." Shiho said, walking up next to Ann. Yusuke opened his mouth to say something, but seemed to think better of it after a moment and simply nodded his head while rubbing his arm again.

"Well, I guess we'll see you guys later." Ann said, looking at them. They nodded as the three of them walked off.

"Will Lady Ann be all right!?" Morgana asked, poking out of the Mona bag again. "What if he drags her behind some painting and tries something funny?"

"I told you not to come out!" Ryuji hissed, causing Morgana to duck back inside the bag.

"Besides, I'm pretty sure if he tried anything Shiho would break his arm." Akira said, causing Ryuji to let out a small chuckle.

"Yeah, followed by breaking his neck." he agrees before sighed. "Are we really gonna 'appreciate' the fine arts? Can't we just go home? Shiho is here to protect Ann, since that Yusuke guy is pretty damn scared of her."

"We still need to learn more about Madarame." Akira said. "Hopefully something here will give us an idea for his keywords." he continued, causing Ryuji to let out another sigh.

"I guess we should do a quick pass through it once…" he muttered. "So…which way are we supposed to start?" he asked, causing Akira to shrug. They started making their way inside, looking at a few of the paintings. He could hear a few people comment about their being there, but for the most part they were largely ignored.

"You flatter me." they heard Madarame say as they rounded an exhibit wall. They looked over and saw a television crew busy interviewing the man.

"It's true." the woman interviewing him said. "We continue to be truly surprised by your imagination. You have such expansive style. It's sometimes hard to believe that it all comes from the mind of one person. Where in the world does all your inspiration come from?"

"Well, it is rather difficult to put into words." he said, stroking his goatee. "They naturally well up from within my heart, like…bubbles, rising one after another in a spring."

"Did he seriously just say that?" Ryuji whispered to Akira.

"Naturally, you say?" the interviewer asked.

"What's important is to distance oneself from worldly desires, such as money and fame." Madarame continued. "My atelier is nothing more than a modest shack, but it is more than enough to pursue true beauty."

"A shack?" Ryuji muttered.

"I wonder if that's a keyword?" Akira muttered as well.

"I see." the interview said. "So, the act of emptying one's mind gives rise to inner beauty. Still, to think we could hear the word 'shack' coming from the great artist Madarame."

"You would understand if you saw it." Madarame said with a laugh. Ryuji had noticed it when they met him after capturing Yusuke, but hearing it again just reinforced it. Something about the man's laugh sounded fake, like he was forcing himself to laugh or like he was laughing at something completely different than what everyone else thought was funny.

"Madarame is actually here!?" someone yelled out.

"He's over there!" someone else yelled from behind them, pushing past them.

"Hey!" Ryuji snapped at the guy who didn't even bother to turn and look at him.

"I'm so glad I came on opening day!" a woman said, running up as well.

She was quickly followed by several dozen other people that were happy to have come on opening day. They were quickly pushed out of the way and made their way to the entrance to avoid being crushed.

-

"I didn't know there were so many types of Japanese art." Ann said, looking up at a painting. Shiho, for her part, simply let out a small sigh and shook her head.

"Considering how bad you were in art class back in middle school, I'm not surprised you didn't know." she muttered.

"Usually one concentrates on their own style." Yusuke said from next to them. Shiho had to admit, while she didn't trust the guy one bit, he knew his art. "However, Sensei creates all this by himself. He's special."

"There you are, Yusuke." Madarame said, coming up toward them. Shiho watched him approach, and for a moment had a vision of Kamoshida. She subtly shook her head to clear the image, but something in his bearing reminded her of him.

"Sensei!" he said, turning around in shock.

"Ah, the girls from the other day." he said, looking past his student and instead looking at them. Again, Shiho couldn't help but remember how Kamoshdia looked at them. "Are you enjoying the exhibit?"

"I don't know how to put it into words, but it's really amazing." Ann said.

"You are sensing something from the artwork." Madarame said, nodding his head. "That alone is enough to give us artist satisfaction. And you, My Dear?" he asked, looking at Shiho.

"I find it interesting that you never settled on one style." she said, trying to keep herself calm. The longer they stayed here, the less comfortable she was. She just wanted this over with so she could take Ann away from them, so she could get away from them. She knew that she would be able to fight back now if Ann were in trouble, seeing as how she had been able to put Yusuke in an arm lock, but it was taking everything in her power to not freeze up as Madarame looked at her.

"Is that so?" he asked, smiling slightly. "That mostly started from attempting to find my niche. As time moved on, however, I decided that there were too many styles to simply select one for the remainder of my life. As such, I decided to continue making paintings in whatever style matched my mood for the moment."

"I see." she said, nodding her head sharply.

"Well, I do hope this becomes a wonderful piece, Yusuke." he said, turning toward his student. "Well then, if you'll excuse me. Yusuke, I have a meeting to attend to now that the opening ceremony is over. I will see you back at the atelier."

"Of course, Sensei." Yusuke replied, nodding his head as Madarame turned around and walked out.

"You'd imagine artist would be difficult to approach, but he seems really friendly." Ann said.

"Indeed." Yusuke agreed, turning back to face her. Ann gave him a smile before her eyes widened.

"This is it!" she said, walking toward a painting. "Shiho, this is the one I was talking about. This is the painting I wanted to see in person!"

"This…one…" Yusuke muttered, walking toward her.

"She wouldn't shut up about it ever since she heard about this exhibit." Shiho said, noticing that something seemed off with Yusuke.

"I wasn't that bad, Shiho." Ann said, turning to look at her before looking back at the painting. "I guess it's the painter's…anger, I guess?" she continued. "I'm not sure, but I sense this…strong frustration from it. To think such a cheerful and gentlemanly person could make such a piece…" she trailed off.

"I agree." Shiho said, looking up at it as well. "There is hidden anger in it." she continued, looking back at Yusuke. She had opened her mouth to say something else, but closed it at the look on Yusuke's face. Her eyes widened slightly as it all fell into place.

"Something wrong?" Ann asked, turning back to look at him as well.

"Don't mind me." he said, schooling his features back to looking neutral. "There are better pieces than…this one. Come now, this way!"

"Hey!" she called after him as he started walking away. She followed him, and Shiho stayed behind for a moment to look up at the painting one last time. She had zero doubt now. The rumors about Madarame were true.

He never painted this picture.

Yusuke did.

-

"Where the hell did they go?" Ann muttered, looking around an hour later.

"I'll send a message in the group chat." Shiho said, pulling out her phone.

"Seriously…I ask to them to stay here, and they leave." Ann muttered again. Shiho simply ignored her and typed her question into the group chat.

**REVANCHE:** Where are you guys?

**SKULL:** Station walkway over the street. Insanely large crowd forced us out.

**SKULL:** Apparently they didn't know Madarame was going to be at his own exhibit.

**SKULL:** Akira and I took some elbows, Morgana was almost crushed.

**SKULL:** Not pretty.

"They're in the walkway above Jingu-dori." Shiho said, reaching up to pull on Ann for a moment to get her attention away from her mutterings. "Apparently a large crowd forced them out once they saw Madarame. From how Ryuji makes it sound, they all almost died."

"They almost died, huh?" she muttered. They started making their way toward the station. It wasn't long before they got there and made their way up to the walkway. There, they found the male members of their team lounging in a small extended area used for meetings.

"Hey, over here!" Ryuji called out, waving toward them. They made their way over and Ann walked up to glare at them.

"Well?" she asked, looking between the two of them and Akira's bag which Morgana had seemed to lay claim to as his own. "Do any of you have anything to say?"

"Actually, we do." Akira said, pulling his phone out. "Madarame Ichiryusai, shack, museum."

"Destination found." the Meta-nav said, letting out a pulse. No one around them showed any signs of feeling anything, but they noticed a red tint cover them briefly for a moment. "Please move closer to destination in order to enter."

"We found the keywords." Ryuji said, a large smile on his face. "All we need now is to find out where this 'shack' he lives in is."

"And, courtesy of Ann agreeing to model for Yusuke, we have that as well." Shiho said, a smile starting to spread across her face. "Those rumors about him stealing his students' work? I'm pretty sure they're true."

"Not that I doubt you, Revanche, but what makes you say that?" Morgana asked, looking up from the Mona bag.

"Ann started gushing over a painting that she likes." she said, looking back the way they had come. She knew that no one had followed them from the exhibit, but that did little to stop the worry. "When she mentioned it to Yusuke, he got really quiet all of a sudden." she continued, turning back to them. "I looked at him and the look on his face was a mixture of pride, anger, and deep sorrow."

"Pride because she liked his work, anger because it has Madarame's name on it, and sorrow because he will never be given credit for it." Akira said.

"Exactly." Shiho said, nodding her head.

"Well, I did agree to meet with him tomorrow." Ann said, pulling up the address on her phone. "It looks like the place is close by, so I guess we can head there after school."

"Sounds like a plan." Akira said, getting the rest of them to nod in agreement.

-

"I really hate those damn interviewers." Madarame muttered, take a sip from a glass of whiskey. He was in the backseat of his limo, watching the recording of his interview he gave at the exhibit. "There's not enough brain cells to form a single collective brain amongst all of them."

"As you say, Sir." the man sitting with him, a bodyguard, said.

"Still, it does have its uses." he said, pausing the video. He looked at the screen for a moment as they pulled in front of a house. "Find out who these two are." he said, pointing to Akira and Ryuji standing in the background. "Yusuke is planning on painting their friend for me. Make sure they don't know enough to cause any problems."

"Yes, Sir." the bodyguard said as the door opened. Madarame got out of the limo and made his way into the house. Inside, a formally dressed woman bowed low to him.

"Welcome home, Master Madarame." she said, getting him to nod at her. "Your usual entertainment is waiting in your private room."

"Good." he said, walking past her. As much as it made him look like the kind artist, he truly hated the shack he was forced to live in with Yusuke. People expected him to live his life a certain way, something he hated beyond anything else. It almost reminded him of the rules that idols were forced to live under, the amount of interest people paid him.

Thankfully, he had his mistress to keep a house for him, as well as provide entertainment when he was bored of her.

With a smile, he opened the door to his private room to see his favorite toy.

-

She hated these calls.

She knew it wasn't right for her to complain, but she still hated them. She hated selling herself, but she also knew she had no choice. Ever since that day, ever since what happened with…

She heard the door open, and turned her head toward the sound. She couldn't see anything, but instinct still made her do it. As much as she hated the calls that involved sex work, this caller was a special level of hate. She had no idea who the client actually was, only that a woman would always meet her at the door. She would be made to strip down, be cleaned off, and then tied up while blindfolded and gagged. She'd then be left alone, her arms tied up over her head and her legs forced open while she was kneeling completely exposed. Sometimes she would only be there alone for a few minutes before the man came into the room. Other times, she'd be there for what must be a couple of hours before he'd enter.

Still, this client paid a lot of money. She didn't have the right to complain about it.

She heard his clothes fall to the floor as the he closed the door. A moment later she felt his hands start to roam her body, followed by his tongue. She suppressed a shudder of disgust, knowing that she didn't have a choice. She needed to do this, and she deserved what she was going through. Every time she sold herself to some random man, it was all in repayment.

After all, Taiki was dead because of her.

"I really love the way you taste, Becky." the man said, his voice somewhat familiar despite her not being able to place it. "I also love how nice you feel." he continued as he pushed her down onto her back and she felt him thrust into her.

The least Kawakami Sadayo could do was suffer through this in order to pay his family apology money.


	8. Not as Simple as Before

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I try not to have long A/Ns at the start of the chapter, but this really needs to be said before the chapter carries out.
> 
> So, first things first. I am DEEPLY sorry this is late. I was hoping to get more writing done while home with Covid, but it really kicked my ass hard and made concentrating on this a pain. While I did planning for future scenes and even wrote out scenes in following chapters, trying to focus on THIS chapter and write in chronological order was difficult.
> 
> Secondly, sex in this story. This story will not have its rating change. It will remain a hard "M" rating. However, this story is based on a game where it's highly implied a teacher raped a student and is actively attempting to rape another, it's highly implied another teacher either is or was a sex worker, a yakuza boss threatens to sell a high school girl into sex slavery, and another girl's father marries her off strictly for his political advancement to someone who only cares about having a high school girl for a wife. As you've seen with the Kamoshida arc and "Becky's" introduction scene in the previous chapter, this story has already blown well past what the game showed.
> 
> While there will be no actual sex-scene in this story (the closest one has the scene end before anything really happens), there will be mentions of sex, some of which may be graphic (especially from "Becky" whose side-arc started at the end of the last chapter). Since I read on r/FanFiction that some people don't like it when a story jumps into anything too graphic (even just talk), I figured I should say this now. If words like "dick" and "pussy" and "cum" make you squeamish, well…
> 
> …consider this fair warning, and your only warning.
> 
> And finally, a question, and let's all take a moment and be honest here…did anyone NOT pick this option during their first playthrough?

Monday, 5/12

-

AFTER SCHOOL

-

"So are we really splitting up?" Shiho asked, causing Akira to let out a small sigh. He knew that they weren't all on-board with his idea, but he still thought it was the better idea. He had brought it up the previous night in the group chat, and while they agreed with him they were still making their general displeasure about it known. "We're really going to split up like this?" she continued, proving that he was right in what part was upsetting her.

"Yusuke is terrified of you." he said, looking up at her from his seat on the train. He had offered her his seat, but she had turned it down and decided to stand instead. He privately thought it was so she could look down at him while discussing this in person. "Right now, we need him to try and slip up. If you're in there with Ann, he will be fully on guard. Likewise, if all of us are in there, he probably wouldn't say anything. By splitting up, it should put him more at ease."

"Yeah, but, sending Ryuji in there?" she asked.

"The hell's that supposed to mean?" Ryuji asked, looking at her.

"He's already shown that he easily dismisses him." Akira said, breaking their argument before it could even begin. "He'll quickly become part of the background. With you, he'll stay defensive the entire time. With me, he'd probably start trying to paint me as well. Hopefully by simply dismissing Ryuji he'll be more open to talk with Ann."

"Meanwhile we go into Madarame's Palace and start looking around." Morgana said from inside his bag, poking his head out to look at Ryuji. "Now listen, you better be ready to defend Lady Ann with your life." he continued. "We're entrusting her safety and her virtue to you, rather I agree with it or not."

"Yeah, yeah." Ryuji said dismissively. "Now get back in the bag, you stupid cat. We didn't pay the pet fare."

"I'm not a cat!" he shot back, causing Akira to sigh. He opened his mouth to say something when someone beat him to it.

"It's a kitty!" a little girl said next to them. They turned and looked at her for a moment. Before Akira could come up with a reply (he was thinking of saying it was a creature), Ann replied for him.

"No, it's a…stuffed animal!" she said with a forced smile. "It lets out a meow when you pet it on the head." she continued. Akira watched as Ryuji and Shiho both sighed and shook their heads. He had to agree with their looks, it wasn't exactly a convincing lie.

Let alone delivery.

"Really!?" the little girl asked.

"Yeah." she said, turning to Akira. "Akira, why don't you show her." she said while looking down at Morgana with a terrifying smile. Akira simply sighed and pet Morgana on the head.

"Me…meow." Morgana said, sounding as if he regretted ever begging them to help him escape Kamoshida's Palace.

"It really works!" the little girl said. "Do it again, Mister! Again!"

Akira looked down at Morgana, and in that moment came to a decision. He would say until his dying day that he didn't really know what came over him, but he knew. He knew exactly what came over him. It was revenge for constantly telling him to go sleep when he felt fine to do other things.

"Time to button-mash." he said with a smirk worthy of Joker.

"Wait, what!?" Morgana yelled as Joker started to press down on his head repeatedly. "Joker! What!? Doing!? Stop! Joker! Jo…urgh!"

"That was funny!" the little girl said, clapping her hands. "Do it some more!"

"I think that's enough for now." Akira said, pushing his glasses up.

"Oh, okay." she said, deflating slightly. It quickly vanished as she waved at them. "Bye bye!" she said, running back toward her mother. She pointed at them and talked excitedly to her, most likely asking her to buy a plush Morgana that meows when you pet it.

"I threw up…in…my mouth." Morgana said, sounding defeated. "Why did you do that, Joker?"

"I…" he trailed off, looking at the rest of the Phantom Thieves as they looked at him in confusion as well. "I really don't know why I did."

"Seriously?" Ann asked, looking at him.

"Well, I guess next time you'll listen when we say not to stick you head out of the damn Mona bag." Ryuji said, looking down at him.

"Yeah." he muttered, slipping his head back into the bag. "Yeah."

-

They waited a block away, watching as the rest of the Phantom Thieves simply vanished from existence in a snap. They waited a moment longer before they started to slowly walk down toward the shack in silence. Ann knew that their part would be important, since it would be their backup plan in case they could not make their way through the Palace in time. Still, she hoped that they would be able to easily make their way through the Palace without having to rely on the painting to capture Madarame. If what Shiho believed was true, the most it would do would be allow her agency to file a lawsuit due to misrepresentation and fraud. Madarame would have his reputation destroyed, but other than the one painting there was no promise that anything else would come from it.

"Everything's gonna be alright." Ryuji said as if reading her mind. She looked over at him and he gave her a soft smile. "We're gonna go in, he's gonna paint you, and I'll be playin' shogi on my phone while makin' sure he doesn't ask for anythin' lewd."

"Thanks, Ryuji." she said, nodding her head while returning his smile before looking forward again. She could do this. The group was relying on her for their back…

…wait.

She mentally replayed what Ryuji said to her back in her head while she continued to walk.

She came to a stop and replayed it back another time just to make sure.

"You know how to play shogi?" she asked. He turned and looked at her, and she knew that she must be looking at him as if she had never seen him before. "Like…shogi? Real shogi?"

"Yeah." he said slowly, nodding his head. "Is…there a problem with that?"

"What's the shortest a game can be?" she asked, remembering some obscure piece of trivia she had seen while watching television with Shiho one night during a sleepover.

"Shortest game would be mate in seven." he said. "It would involve capturing a gold general with a bishop and then dropping it to trap and mate the king due to the bishop having been promoted."

"You really do know how to play shogi!" she yelled, causing him to take a step back. "How do you know how to play shogi!? Who taught you!? Why did you never tell anyone!?"

"Geez, look in a mirror and you'll find out why I never tell anyone." he said, his voice taking an annoyed tone. Ann tried to calm down some, but she couldn't help it. Hearing Ryuji say he played shogi and then backing it up with an actual explanation of something would be like hearing him starting to go on in rapture about the techniques used in the paintings they saw yesterday. It just seemed so.. _not_ Ryuji.

"I'm sorry." she said, looking at him. "It's just…seriously, I've never even seen you playing it or heard you talking about it to anyone."

"Well, it's not like I made it my life's hobby." he said, rubbing the back of his head for a moment. "I mean, think about it, who would actually believe me if I told them?"

"I guess." she said, looking away for a moment. She had to admit, he had a point. Until he told her about the shortest game, she never would have believed him. She knew just enough about shogi to know that he wasn't making it up, either. "So, how did you learn?" she asked again, looking back at him.

"There was some game back when we were kids." he said, putting his hands in his pockets. "I don't remember what it was called, but it had some shogi mini-game you had to beat in order to continue with the game. I liked the characters in the game, so I learned just enough to beat the mini-game and continue on. Anyways, I ended up kinda likin' the shogi part and went back to continue playin' the mini-game in order to gain money in the game, and decided to try it out for real."

"That's…actually not what I was expecting." she said honestly.

"I'm almost afraid to ask, but…what _were_ you expecting?"

"Honestly?" she asked, causing him to nod his head. "I thought maybe you saw the Venus of Shogi in an idol magazine and came up with this hair-brained idea to learn shogi in order to try and get her to go out with you."

"Yeah, because that would totally work." he said, shaking his head with a small smile. "'Hey Togo-sensei, you play shogi and I play shogi, let's date!'" he continued with a laugh. "Seriously, she's so far outta my league it's not even funny."

"So you're saying you _wouldn't_ want to go out with her?" she asked in a teasing voice as she started to walk toward the shack again.

"I didn't say that." he said, once again walking as well. "I sure as hell wouldn't say no to a date with her."

"Never change, Ryuji." she said, reaching up to ruffle his hair. He swatted her hand away, causing her to only laugh some more. They finished their walk up to the shack and looked up at it.

"I don't believe that this guy actually lives here." Ryuji said, causing Ann to look at him. "Modest or not, he didn't have the look of someone who would actually live like this."

"I guess I can see what you mean." she said, reaching up to ring the doorbell. They waited a moment until a voice came through the intercom.

"Yes, who is it?" Yusuke's voice asked. "Sensei is currently busy and has requested to not be bothered at this time."

"It's me, Takamaki Ann." she said, getting a gasp to come from the other side.

"One moment." he said. They heard the door unlock a moment later and Yusuke opened the door. "You really came!" he said, sounding excited for a moment while looking at her before turning to Ryuji. "You…what are you doing here?"

"'Sup." he said, the smirk evident in his voice.

"I was under the impression you were coming alone." Yusuke said, turning to look at Ann. She simply raised an eyebrow at him. She opened her mouth to shoot that idea down, only to be cut off by Ryuji.

"Yeah, Dude, that ain't happenin'." he said, drawing Yusuke's attention. "Look, we get that there was a misunderstandin' and all, but you _still_ stalked her for a week. She may have agreed to model for you, but none of us trust you. Both our other friends that helped stop you had obligations they couldn't pull away from today, so it's me playin' bodyguard. I'll be in the room, but sittin' outta the way playin' shogi on my phone, got it?"

"You…play shogi?" he asked, his eyebrow raising. Ryuji simply sighed and shook his head.

"Yeah, that a problem?" Ryuji asked, his voice taking an edge.

"Of course not, I just never thought one as…uncivilized looking as yourself would know how to play the game." he said, stepping back for a moment and framing Ryuji with his fingers. "Though, I suppose if the only other shogi player I know of could be considered one birthed of the highest breeding from the Imperial courts, you would be that of a ronin. That would actually make for an interesting piece. Togo, with the looks of a female Daimyo, and yourself, a masterless ronin drifting from place to place as an outcast refusing to lower your pride and set in!" he finished, reaching forward for Ryuji's hands. "Once I am finished with Takamaki's painting, please consent to this painting as well!"

"Uh…why don't we see how Ann's goes first." Ryuji said, taking a step back. Ann simply shook her head, part of her wondering why she was even surprised by how things were going.

"Of course, you wish to see that I can make it perfect." he replied, nodding his head. "Very well. As I said, Sensei is currently busy, but we should be fairly uninterrupted. Please, follow me." he finished, turning to lead them into the shack.

"Not exactly what I meant." she heard Ryuji mutter. She ignored him and followed Yusuke inside, noticing that it looked as run down on the inside as it did outside. She'd be the first to admit that she didn't know much about laws and rules for what was allowed to stand inside Tokyo, especially near Shibuya, but part of her wondered at how a place that looked like this was allowed to stand.

"This is an…interesting place." she said, causing Yusuke to turn slightly to look back at her.

"It is." he said. "Sensei could live anywhere in the world, and yet he says he feels most comfortable living in a place like this."

"That's…interesting." Ryuji said. Ann could see him looking around as well, and could see the doubt on his face. She couldn't blame him. She had trouble believing that Madarame would feel comfortable living in a place like this.

"My room is here." Yusuke said, opening a door and beckoning them inside. They started to walk in and were shocked to find an almost bare room with no personal touches.

"This is your room?" Ann asked, looking back toward Yusuke.

"It is." he said, nodding. "Sensei teaches that it is easier to focus on the painting attempting to come out from within us when we have little to cause distraction. This room has everything I need to focus on my art, and produce works that will fill museums."

"So, you have any works displayed?" Ryuji asked, causing Yusuke to freeze up.

"Any works…" he trailed off before shaking his head. "No, not yet. I…have works, but Sensei believes I should have a masterpiece that matches his first world-renown masterpiece before I display them anywhere."

"Are you talking about the missing _Sayuri_?" Ann asked. Yusuke looked over at him and nodded.

"Even after all the pieces that Sensei has done, in all the different styles, the _Sayuri_ is still considered his magnum opus."

"Considering I've heard it referred to as the modern-day _Mona Lisa_ , I can't say I'm surprised." she said. At this point, she was starting to believe that the _Sayuri_ may actually be Madarame's only actual piece. While none of them really had an eye for art, they could tell that the piece was alone in having a wholly unique style not seen in any of his other pieces.

"Well, while I may not be able to capture something to the level of the _Sayuri_ nor the _Mona Lisa_ , I do believe that I will still capture your beauty in a masterpiece that will at least be able to stand with them." Yusuke said, shaking his head slightly. "Please, let us begin."

"Sure." she said, walking fully into the room. She watched as he pulled out a stool for her to sit on, and he started to pose her as soon as she had sat down. She noticed Ryuji watching them like a hawk, and saw his hands clench sometimes when Yusuke's hands got to close too her breast. Still, she was a model. As much as his actions screamed stalker and creep, she wasn't getting those vibes from him now.

She was getting the vibes of someone who was a professional.

"Now, please hold that position." Yusuke said after a few moments. He stood back and framed her with his fingers before nodding his head. "I understand that it may be tiring to stay in the same position for long. Please try and commit it to memory so you will be able to return to it after taking breaks to stretch."

"I'll do that." she said, not moving her head. She heard Ryuji sit down in the side of the room and figured the rustling she heard was him pulling his phone from his pocket. She watched as Yusuke grabbed an easel and seemed to find the right angle to set it before putting it down. He grabbed a blank canvas and picked up a pencil before sitting down and holding it out. She watched him gauge the angle one final time before nodding his head and turning to start drawing.

All she could do now was wait.

-

"You have _got_ to be kidding me…" Revanche trailed off next to Joker. For his part, all he could do was nod in silent agreement. They had entered the Palace while looking at the shack that looked to be in violation of every single building code that ever existed in Japan, and watched as it transformed into a solid gold museum.

"We're already considered threats." Mona said, causing them both to look down at themselves.

"I guess thieves _would_ be a threat to an art museum." Joker muttered, causing Revanche to swat his arm. He looked over at her and smirked. "Tell me I'm wrong." he said. She simply glared at him for a moment before turning away. He looked back toward the museum and studied the front of it while adjusting his gloves.

"With us already looking like this, I highly doubt we're going to be able to simply walk through the front door." she said, causing him to nod. Mona walked past and looked around for a moment before pointing toward a parked van off to the side.

"There's a method of entrance." Mona exclaimed. They looked toward the van and noticed that it led to a suspicious gap in the shrubs surrounding the building.

"Yeah, that's not remotely suspicious." she said.

"Mona, why is that there?" Joker asked, causing him to turn around. "A van parked in the perfect spot that just _happens_ to have enough room to get through? Why would a Palace ruler have that? There may as well be a huge neon sign saying 'Secret Entrance' hanging over it."

"I think it has something to do with a person's cognition." Mona said, looking down for a moment. "Some part of them _wants_ to be punished for their crimes. The reason they are like that is because they are secretly hoping to be discovered. It's a remnant of their guilty conscious. Kamoshida was the same. He had an out-of-the-way vent that was easily accessible from the outside and led to a room that never had Shadows guarding it. It was the remnant of his guilty conscious wanting to be found."

"Kamoshida _had_ no conscious." Revanche snapped.

"I _did_ say it was the 'remnant' for a reason." Mona said, turning to her. "Deep down, on a subconscious level that they no longer pay attention to, they _know_ what they are doing is wrong. These entrances that we find, they are the repressed remnants of that knowledge. Otherwise, we'd be locked out with no way to move forward."

"So what?" Joker asked, looking down at him. "If deep down they had no guilty conscious there'd be no obvious way in?"

"Pretty much." Mona said. "We may find obstacles deeper inside the Palace that slow us down, but without that guilty conscious we'd never get much further than the entrance. At least…I think."

"Skull would be insufferable right now." Revanche muttered. All Joker could do was nod in silent agreement.

With that final thought, Joker ran toward the parked van. He jumped up when he reached it and grabbed the edge, pulling himself up. He peeked over the edge of the wall and noticed a garden maze lying beneath it. He heard first Revanche and then Mona jump up next to him. He looked over the maze and noticed metal framework holding lights above it. Unlike the maze below, they ran straight and didn't follow the confusing pathways below them.

"I take it we're not doing the maze?" Revanche asked him, a smirk visible in her voice.

"Never was one for mazes." Joker said, smirking as well. He took a few steps back and jumped the gap between the wall and the metal framework. He landed and rolled forward into a low crouch. After a moment, he turned and nodded his head toward Revanche and Mona. "It's sturdy." he said. They both nodded and jumped over as well. They started to run forward, only for a glowing red Shadow below them to catch their attention.

"That would have been bad to run into." Mona said. "It's also a good way to determine just how far gone Madarame is. He's aware that he may be found out, and is actively trying to destroy his guilty conscious."

"Then wouldn't the van just move?" Joker asked. "Or those shrubs grow over? Or this walkway vanish? Why leave it all here and then just flood the maze with guards?"

"He may be actively trying to destroy it, but he still has it deep down." he told them, looking up at them. "In time, he may just succeed. At that point, his cognition would have someone walk out and drive the van away. Until then, these powerful Shadows are guarding the obvious hole in the security."

"Maybe we should try and find a safe room before leaving." Revanche said, causing Joker to nod in agreement. They continued to make their way along the framework, quickly coming to large stone pillars. They jumped across and made their along them to the edge of the museum proper.

"I guess we look for a skylight." Joker said, jumping up and making his way toward the roof. Once there, he looked down through the skylights and watched as Shadows patrolled along down below.

"That doesn't really look promising." Revanche muttered.

"Over here." Mona said, drawing their attention. They made their way over and looked down into a small room with a few paintings. They watched for a few moments, and noticed that Shadows never once walked into the room.

"So…is this the same idea?" Revanche asked. "This room is based on his guilty conscious or something?"

"No idea." he replied. He reached into one of the pouches on his utility belt and pulled out a rope. "Joker, lower me down and I'll take a look from inside."

"Got it." he said, reaching over and unlocking the windows. He opened it as Mona tied the rope around himself.

"Make sure to tie it off securely up here before you make your way down." Mona said, jumping down. Joker held on to the rope and slowly lowered him down. He felt the rope go slack a moment later and looked down to see Mona untying himself. He watched as the totally-not-a-cat moved around the room before looking up at them waving them down. Joker nodded and started tying the rope securely to loop in the framework.

"Pretty convenient spot to tie a rope, isn't it?" Revanche muttered.

"I guess we're either in a badly written story, or it has something to do with Madarame's cognition and suppressed guilty conscious." Joker said with a smirk. She simply chuckled and shook her head.

"You really did have bad eighth-grader syndrome, didn't you?" she asked. "Did you pretend there was a fourth wall you had to break?"

"Well, ladies first." he said, gesturing the rope and ignoring her comment. He saw her smile and shake her heard once again.

"Why thank you, Deadpool." she said, taking the rope and repealing down. He waited until she was on the ground before grabbing the rope and throwing himself over. He made it a foot down before the rope gave and he fell. When he hit the ground, he threw himself forward into a roll to transfer his momentum.

"I told you tie the rope securely." Mona said.

"I did." he replied, looking up. "I guess a safe room is now our only way out."

"So…what's with this room?" Revanche asked, looking around. Joker took a look around as well. The room was pretty empty, with only nine paintings on the walls.

"I didn't see much of his exhibit, but I don't remember seeing any of these in the part I did see." Joker said, looking at them. All of the paintings looked like decent landscape pieces, but he could tell that weren't to the quality of the ones he saw at the exhibit. Each painting had a small placard next to it with the title and Madarame's name.

"None of these were." she replied. "These all look like they were painted by the same person, but none of these even resemble anything that was at the exhibit."

"Let's see if there's any clue out here." Mona said, looking around the opening of the room. Joker watched as he stepped out for a moment and moved over to what must have been a sign. "According to this, the room contains all the works painted by Madarame."

"There's nine paintings in here." Joker said, walking out of the room to stand next to Mona. He looked at the sign and saw that it did indeed claim to be all of Madarame's works. "There's no way that these are _all_ the paintings he's ever done."

"I don't know what to tell you." Mona replied as Revanche walked out as well. They moved down the hallway to the next room, and looked at the painting of a portrait that was standing next to it.

"'This room contains the paintings of Hirano Tsuna, graciously donated to Madarame for his use.'" Revanche read off the placard underneath the portrait. They peaked into the room and saw a Shadow walking patrol. Before Joker could say anything, she gasped and pointed toward one of the paintings. The Shadow heard her gasp and turned toward them. They quickly ducked out of the way and ran back to the first room they entered.

"That was close." Mona muttered. "It's a good thing it takes the Shadows a moment to realize that we're intruders."

"Tell me about it." Joker agreed. He turned toward Revanche and cocked an eyebrow at her. "What the hell was that, Revanche?"

"Inside that room, there was a painting that was displayed at the exhibit." Revanche said, getting their attention. "It was there with Madarame's name signed to it."

"You're sure?" he asked, growing completely serious.

"One hundred percent."

"This connecting hallway seems to be more or less empty." Mona said, looking back out into the hallway. "Let's see what these other rooms say and remain careful."

With that, they made their way back into the hallway and started to check the outsides of the rooms. Each one hard a portrait and placard setup outside of it, all saying the same thing. Each time, Joker had Revanche peak into the room and see if any of the paintings looked familiar. Each time, she'd tell him that at least one of the paintings were in the exhibit under Madarame's name, sometime even multiples from the same artist.

"This is troubling, but I can't really say I'm surprised." Joker said as they moved onto what seemed to be the final one. Outside it stood two portraits, one of which they instantly recognized as Yusuke. The other was of a woman. Joker leaned down and read the golden placard that was underneath the two portraits. "'This room contains the paintings of Kitagawa Tsugumi and her son…Kitagawa Yusuke. The works of mother and son have been graciously gifted Madarame in thanks for his guardianship of the son after the mother's death.'" he read, standing up. He turned back to look at Revanche, only to see her with her hands over her mouth and her eyes wide. "What's wrong?" he asked, turning to look for an enemy.

"That woman…she's the same woman as the _Sayuri._ " she said, staring at it in shock. He turned back to look at it, and realized that the two were really similar.

"She does look similar." Joker agreed, taking a step back. He moved over and looked into the room, only to step back and hug the wall.

"How bad is it, Joker?" Mona asked. Joker simply turned to him and shook his head.

"Bad." he said, peaking around again carefully. While each room so far had had a single Shadow inside it, this room was different. There were six Shadows inside the room, all of them glowing red without him even needing to use his Third Eye. He noticed one painting facing the door hanging on a center pillar and moved back. "Revanche, take a quick peek very carefully at this painting facing the door and tell me if it was the one Panther was gushing about."

"Got it." she said, taking his place. He watched her peak in quickly before retreating away from the door. "It is the same painting."

"I think we can safely agree Madarame is guilty of fraud, if nothing else." Joker said, getting the other two to nod their heads in agreement. "Let's try and find a safe room so we can get out of here. We'll have to find out what kind of schedule they're giving Panther so we know when we can come back in here as a full team."

-

Ryuji was close to twenty minutes into his third game of shogi when his phone's messenger app popped up with a notification. He looked up at Ann for a moment before closing out his game and opening the message. He saw it was for the group chat, and let out a small sigh of relief. Even though he knew they could handle it themselves, part of him still didn't like separating like this.

**JOKER:** We're back in the real world. How are things going on your end?

**SKULL:** Fine. He's been drawing Ann the entire time. Find out anything?

**JOKER:** Madarame's been committing fraud.

**JOKER:** Also, apparently Madarame took in Yusuke after his mother died.

Ryuji looked over at Yusuke after reading that. He had to admit, things made more sense after reading that. So far as Yusuke would be concerned, he owed everything to Madarame.

**SKULL:** That answers some questions that this trip brought up.

**REVANCHE:** Has that creep done anything to Ann?

**JOKER:** Mona would also like this answer.

**SKULL:** Nothing that Ann seemed to disagree with. Most he did was pose her.

**JOKER:** Has he given any idea about a time-line?

**SKULL:** No. I'm guessing it'll need to be before the exhibit ends, though, right?

**REVANCHE:** The exhibit ends on the fifth.

**SKULL:** I'll tell Ann she can't come tomorrow, see what Yusuke says to that.

**JOKER:** Let us know. We'll head to Leblanc after school tomorrow and go in next day.

With that, Ryuji closed out of the messenger app and went back to his shogi game. He played it maybe another ten minutes when he noticed Yusuke put down his pencil.

"I believe this is a good place to end for the day." Yusuke said, causing Ann to stand up and shake out her arms. "I must say, you seem like modeling is second nature to you. Have you done this before?"

"Uh…" she trailed off, looking between him and Ryuji. For his part, Ryuji simply let out a small sigh and shook his head.

"Back durin' art in middle school, the teacher made her model a lot because of her foreign looks." Ryuji lied, getting Yusuke's attention. "The art club liked havin' her model for 'em as well."

"I see." he said, nodding his head. "That would explain it. Now, I would like to have you come back tomorrow and continue." he said, turning his head to look at Ann for a moment before turning to once again look at Ryuji. "I assume you will be here as well?"

"Don't know, but she won't be here tomorrow or the next day." he said, turning to Ann. "Shiho sent me a text maybe ten minutes ago. She wanted me to remind you that you agreed to help her with her English project."

"As much as I love her, I was kind of hoping she forgot." Ann muttered. He noticed a slight red tint spread across her cheeks for a moment and raised an eyebrow at it. She shook her head for a moment and turned to look up at Yusuke. "I'm sorry. I won't be able to come back for a few days."

"That's…" Yusuke trailed off. Ryuji looked up at him and noticed that he looked worried. "I…suppose I can make that work." he said after a moment. "It will allow me to test paint combinations for your skin and hair tone."

"Do you have some kind of deadline on this painting?" Ann asked. Ryuji was glad she thought to ask naturally, since even he knew it would seem suspicious if he asked.

"Ah, well…" he trailed off again. "Sensei wanted to see…well…he wanted to see if I could paint a masterpiece in a short timeframe. Maybe three weeks at the most."

"Okay." she said, smiling nicely at him. "I'll try and keep my schedule open for the new few weeks then."

"Thank you." he said, smiling. "Please, allow me to show you out." he said, standing up. With those final words, Yusuke led them out of the shack. Once outside, he simply nodded to them and closed the door behind them, locking it once again.

"So what did they find out?" Ann asked as they started to make their way back toward the station.

"Madarame took in Yusuke after his mother died." Ryuji replied, causing Ann to gasp. "It would explain a lot, like why he seems to constantly defer to the man. They were also able to find evidence of fraud."

"I take it we're going in tomorrow?"

"We're gonna meet at Leblanc tomorrow to discuss everything and make a plan of action." he said. "We're goin' in the next day."

"Okay." she said, nodding her head.

"His deadline…" Ryuji started, trailing off.

"I know." she said, looking toward him again. "Madarame wants a painting to close out his exhibit, and Yusuke is tasked with trying to paint a masterpiece within three weeks, which would coincide with the ending of the exhibit."

"All we can do now is wait for tomorrow." he said, seeing her nod her head in agreement.

-

Tuesday, 5/13

-

MORNING

-

"I wonder what this is about?" Ann asked him as they stood in line waiting for the emergency assembly to start. Akira simply shrugged, just as confused as she was. He just hoped Niijima didn't blab to the principal that she suspected they were the Phantom Thieves. That would be the last thing they needed right now, especially since they _were_ the Phantom Thieves.

"Who knows." Akira said, not vocalizing his worry as the principal walked up to the podium.

"Now, as you know, there have been some…issues…happening at this school." the principal said. Akira heard a few people snort in derision. He was honestly tempted to join them. "As such, we in the faculty have decided that the best course of action to help us move past this would be to hire someone who can be an advocate for the students. As such, I would like to welcome grad student Maruki Takuto." he said as a man in his late twenties to early thirties walked out. He walked up and took the principal's place at the podium.

"Thank you, Principal Kobayakawa." Maruki said, nodding toward him before turning to face the students. "Good morning. My name is Maruki Takuto. I'm a grad student currently working on my doctoral thesis in psychology. I will only be able to be here through the end of November, and hope my time here will be productive. If I'm able to help even one of you over the next six and a half months, I will consider my time here well spent." he said. With that, he took a step back and bowed before moving so the principal could take the podium again.

"Those wishing to speak with him may do so in the nurse's office. He will be on-site during school hours and remain so until club activities have ended. You may now return to your classes." he finished, stepping away.

"So…not what I was expecting." Ann said, causing Akira to let out a humorless laugh.

"I can say the same." Akira said. "Honestly, this reeks of the staff trying to save face."

"I know." she said, nodding her head. Still, he had to admit that even if this Maruki was brought on to save face, he could see the use for it. Kamoshida had done a lot of damage during his tenure. Even if the principal was simply doing this to make himself look good, it still brought some help to the students.

"Kurusu, Mishima, and Takamaki, a word please?" he heard Kawakami say. He looked over toward her and approached, putting himself between Ann and Mishima. He did it in such a way that even Ryuji would have more subtly than he did. He noticed Mishima look at him nervously for a moment before he turned his attention to Kawakami.

"Yes, Ma'am?" Mishima asked.

"While the invitation to speak with our new councilor is totally voluntary, the staff would like for certain students to speak with him regardless. That includes the three of you." Kawakami said, sounding tired. While wondering just why she always seemed exhausted, Akira noticed something on her neck. He looked at it for a moment, almost thinking it was a hickey, but realized it looked more like an actual bruise cause by a hit.

"Are you okay?" Akira asked without thinking.

"What?" she asked back, looking toward him.

"Your neck." he said, pointing towards her. "It looks like you got hit."

"Oh, this?" she asked, putting her hand up to her neck. "No, this is nothing. I was grabbing a bowl over the weekend and another one dropped with it. Just hit me is all." she said. He didn't saying anything to that, just nodded his head. She looked at him for a moment before turning her head to look at the three of them in turn. "While you won't get in trouble if you don't go, it _is_ highly encouraged since it will make it easier for all of us."

"So he really was just brought in to save face." Ann said, causing Kawakami to let out a sigh.

"Basically." she said, sounding even more tired than she did a moment earlier. "Go, don't go, it's up to you."

"I'll…I'll go." Mishima said. Kawakami nodded at him before turning to face Akira and Ann.

"I'll think about it." Ann said, causing Kawakami to turn to face Akira.

"Couldn't they have gotten a woman his age to do this?" he asked, causing Ann to let out a sigh. "I mean, I'm sure Kamoshida's rape victims would feel more comfortable going to a woman than a man."

"While that may be true, you're also saying that because _you_ would prefer it being a woman as well." Ann said, slapping him across the back of the head. "God, Akira, I'm going to let Ryuji change your name to 'Cougar-chaser' in our group chat if you keep this up."

"I'll think about it as well." Akira said, looking at Kawakami. She looked at him for a moment before nodding her head as well.

"Then back to class." she said as she walked off. They stood there for a moment before Akira turned to look at Mishima.

"Normally I'd say 'ladies first' but, quite frankly, I don't trust you to walk behind us." he said. Mishima stood there for a moment before slowly nodding and walking away. They waited a few moments before following him back to the classroom.

-

LUNCH

-

Akira was once again eating his lunch alone in the classroom when his phone dinged. He pulled it out and saw that Ryuji had sent a message in the group chat. He almost ignored it after what seemed like nothing but the rest of the Thieves spamming each other earlier, but realized it was about Maruki.

**SKULL:** So…it was "suggested" to me that I see this new guy.

**REVANCHE:** Same. I told them no.

**PANTHER:** We told Kawakami we'd consider it, right Akira?

**COUGAR-CHASER:** Yeah.

**COUGAR-CHASER:** Wait…

**COUGAR-CHASER:** Ann, what the fuck!?

**REVANCHE:** What?

**COUGAR-CHASER:** Her and Ryuji changed my username in the chat!

**REVANCHE:** Oh, that.

**COUGAR-CHASER:** Is that why all of you were spamming earlier!?

**COUGAR-CHASER:** To hid the notification!?

**REVANCHE:** We at least still know who you are, Cougar-chaser, so no problem.

**COUGAR-CHASER:** Seriously!?

**_COUGAR-CHASER_** _changed **COUGAR-CHASER** 's name to **JOKER**._

**JOKER:** There, now it's fixed.

**SKULL:** BOO!

**PANTHER:** It was better the other way!

**REVANCHE:** Joker? Who's Joker? I thought Akira was Cougar-chaser.

**REVANCHE:** Were we being tricked this whole time!?

**JOKER:** I hate all of you.

With that, Akira turned his phone off and jammed it back into his pocket. He took another bite of his lunch, knowing that he had not heard the end of it, and wondering just what he could change their usernames to in the chat to get back at them.

"Well, they had a point." Morgana said from inside his desk, causing him to lean back slightly to look into his desk at him. "We'd be able to still know who you are, Cougar-chaser."

Akira simply let out a sigh.

-

Despite being the middle of the day, it may as well have been a moonless night for how dark it was in the room. The only light-source was the multiple monitors giving off their blue light into the dark room. The single occupant in the room sat in a chair facing the monitors, eating a package of ramen. The occupant, a young girl, let out a laugh as she watched the hacked phone conversation stream by. She had listened in on the person, and knew that he truly was worthy of the name 'Cougar-chaser' instead of Joker (seriously, why Joker?). A moment later, she let out a disappointed moan as the signal showed he had turned his phone off.

"I guess that cougar-chaser couldn't handle the heat of the truth." the girl, Sakura Futaba, said. She turned her eyes toward another monitor, this one showing the eternal progress of the network she had been trying to hack for several years now. She wished she knew how the network was able to stay one step ahead of her. She knew how to hide herself digitally, even from the people she was trying to hack, but nothing she had managed to discover so far told her how their network was able to adapt on the fly.

"It's almost like Kirijo has a living computer as her firewall." she muttered, looking down at her main monitor with a run-time environment open on it. "Maybe the new additions will help." she said, not even able to convince herself as she continued writing the updates to her decrypting program.

-

AFTER SCHOOL

-

Maruki watched as the student walked out of the nurse's office, and let out a small sigh once the door was closed. He knew that in order to get the information he wanted, he would have to play the role of a councilor for the time being. Still, listening to the students unload their problems allowed him to better understand just what he was working with. It would also give him a better idea on just how to help the students and others like them.

The door to the nurse's office slid open, and he looked down at his watch. He knew that no other student should be coming to him this late, and wondered if he'd be forced to leave them be until tomorrow when Kawakami walked in. He had noticed how tired she looked when he was introduced to her the previous week, and somehow she looked even more tired now.

"Good afternoon." he said, giving her a small smile. She looked at him and nodded her head, handing out a sheet of paper.

"Here's the list of the students that the principal wishes for you to speak with." she said. He took the paper and looked down at it, noticing most had either a question mark or an "X" next to their names. "The ones with the question marks claimed they would consider speaking with you. The one's with an 'X' outright said no, however the principal would still like you to try and speak with them."

"I guess my work is cut out for me." he said, looking up at her.

"I guess so." she said, shaking her head. He heard her mutter slightly under her breath, and thought she was complaining about having to play messenger girl once again, but couldn't be sure.

"How are you doing?" he asked, causing her to look back up at him.

"You're here to help the students, not the staff." she replied. He shook his head and smiled at her again.

"That may be true, but helping the staff would go a long way toward helping the students as well." he said, causing her to raise an eyebrow at him. "None of the other teachers show the level of mental exhaustion that you do. I can tell that something is bothering you. We can talk about it. Sometimes venting your frustrations to an impartial ear can help you work through a problem."

"I doubt that." she said. "I don't see how simply talking can solve my problems." she finished, walking toward the door. He let out a small sigh.

"Well, I'm always willing to listen." he said. "Just like I won't tell anyone what any individual student tells me, I won't reveal anything you say either should you decide to talk about it."

He watched as she stopped at the door, her hand ready to open it. She turned toward him and looked at him for a moment. He noticed her eyes roaming up and down him, and raised an eyebrow at her action. After another moment, she moved her hand and locked the door.

"So it stays in this room?" she asked. "Nothing I say or do while we're here will be reported?"

"Everything you say will be kept in the strictest confidence." he said, a confused expression crossing his face. He could understand why she would be worried that he would tell someone, most likely the principal, what she said in this room. Half the students who had spoken to him revealed they were afraid of that as well. But he had never had someone be worried about their actions in the room being reported. "Granted, if you try and murder me, I will have to report that." he said in what he hoped was a joking tone.

"I moonlight as a prostitute." she said, causing his eyes to widen. He liked to believe that he was a good judge of character and being able to tell when someone was lying to him. All of his training and skills in doing so were telling him that she was being completely one hundred percent serious.

"A prostitute?" he asked, clearing his throat when he realized it had gone up an octave. "Why?"

"Because I ended up being responsible for someone's death." she said, once again so far as he could tell being completely honest. "I didn't physically murder him, but I may as well have. I've been paying the family restitution ever since. Seeing as that can't be done on a teacher's salary, I figured I may as well sell the only thing of value I have."

"You don't need to do that." he said, shaking his head. "I'm sure there are other ways, other alternatives, other-"

"That may be." she said, cutting him off. She started walking toward him, and he felt himself tense up. "But I need to pay them a lot of money every month. So you want to help me, then let's make a deal."

"A deal?" he asked as she got in front of him and pushed him down onto the sofa. His eyes widened as she pulled her skirt up and straddled him.

"Yes, a deal." she answered, lowering her voice. She grabbed his hand and placed it on her breast as she started to grind her hips against him. "Normally, the company I work for charges five hundred thousand yen to clients. In exchange, they get to do whatever they want with me. Nothing is off limits. Even causing pain. The only real limit is that nothing they do can be permanent. The bruise on my neck? That's not considered permanent damage, so the client got to hit me."

"That's-"

"However," she continued, cutting him off, "I only ever see one hundred fifty thousand of that. The company keeps the rest. So, since you claim you want to help me and we now work together, I'll make you a deal. Two hundred fifty thousand yen. You pay me that directly, and you can do whatever you want with me. I'll suck you off until your eyes cross. If you like anal, I'll guide you in. Whatever fetish you like, I'll be willing to do it no matter what it is." she said, leaning in close to him and placing her mouth next to his ear. He shuddered as her breath tickled his ear. "I'll even let you pump as much cum in my pussy as you want."

"That's not…I never…I wouldn't…" he stammered. He watched as she leaned back away from him for a moment and glared down at him before standing up. She quickly rearranged her skirt before looking at his crotch. He saw a small smirk spread across her face, and knew why. Even a blind person would be able to see he was hard at what she had done.

"If you actually want to help me, the offer stands." she said, walking over to the door. He watched her unlock it before turning back to face him. "I don't like whoring myself out, and would stop the day they stop demanding restitution. Since that will never happen, I don't have much of a choice. 'Talking' about it won't help me, since it won't get me the money to pay them back for their son's death. Spreading my legs and letting some old guy fuck me for money, however, will." she said, turning back to the door. She started to open it, only to stop and close it again before turning back to him with a forced smile on her face. "Oh, and make sure your dick isn't sticking out when you leave. The last thing the school needs is another scandal."

With that, she opened the door and walked out, slamming it shut behind her. He watched the door for a moment before taking a deep breath, letting it out slowly. He knew she was right. If he walked out looking like this, it would be bad, not only for the school but for his future as well.

"I'll help you as well, Sadayo." he said softly. "Once I gain the means of creating a new world, I'll make it so you've never had to sell yourself like you feel you've had to."

-

Once again, the group found themselves at Leblanc. They sat in the attic around a table Akira had dragged out from the corner. Along with their drinks and snacks, they had a notebook open where Shiho was writing notes.

"So you're sure that his mother was the model for the _Sayuri_?" Ann asked, looking at Akira and Shiho. Akira simply leaned back in his seat and shrugged.

"Both were really similar." he answered.

"I'd bet a lot on it." Shiho said, getting the rest of the group to look at her.

"I suppose it really doesn’t matter." Akira said, leaning forward again. "You've said that conditions inside that shack match the outside, correct? That only leads credence to that placard we read inside that said Madarame took guardianship of Yusuke. From his point of view, Madarame is the only parent figure he's ever known. He's probably been told many times that he owes his life and existence to the man."

"He sees both Yusuke and his mother differently." Morgana said, gaining their attention. "Think about it. Every other artist he stole from had a room with a single normal Shadow. They had a plain portrait and placard telling who they were. Those two, however, had six insanely high-level Shadows guarding their room. Their portraits were nice, and the placard was made out of gold."

"So he considers the two of them more important." Ryuji said, leaning back and draping his arm over the back of the chair. "Maybe he sees their stuff as better than everyone else's work?"

"Maybe since his mother's portrait is what brought him to fame, he considers their contribution better." Shiho said, writing it down as a possibility in the notebook. While Akira figured it was as good an idea as any of the other ones, he couldn't help but feel that something was off.

"Inside that room we first entered…" he trailed off, getting their attention. He looked down at Morgana before turning to Revanche. "There were only nine paintings in there. The placard claimed they were all of Madarame's works, right?"

"That's right." Morgana said.

"Then why wasn't the _Sayuri_ in that room?"

"Well that's…" Morgana trailed off. "Why _wouldn't_ it be in that room? His cognition would place it there since he painted it."

"Could it be his Treasure?" Shiho asked. "You said it's suppose to be whatever it was that caused someone's desires to warp. It would make since that having his work being compared to the _Mona Lisa_ in a positive way would do that."

"It could be." he said, nodding his head while sitting on the table. "It probably is."

"We managed to find a map and a safe room to teleport to." Akira said, looking over at Ann and Ryuji. "My idea is go back in tomorrow after school and see what we can find. Maybe we can find something that revealing to Yusuke would make him reveal the truth. However, we cannot push for him to turn on Madarame. I have a feeling that would be a mistake."

"So I take it I need to continue to model for him?" Ann asked.

"Yes." Akira said. "We can switch out whoever goes in with you so he doesn't start to get suspicious, but we'll need you to continue doing this. Right now, you're our main in with him. He's the weak link in Madarame's whole scheme, rather they know it or not."

"I don't know." Ann said, smirking while turning to face Ryuji. "I'm pretty sure he wouldn't be opposed to doing a picture of Ryuji and his celebrity crush."

"Hey!" Ryuji yelled. "I have no intention of doin' that!"

"So you're saying you _wouldn't_ want a picture of her with you?"

"Well, I mean…" he trailed off. After a moment, he shook his head. "Man, eff you Ann. That's not fair."

"So…who's his celebrity crush?" Akira asked.

"Oh, she's an idol." Ann answered, grinning. "Her name is-"

"It doesn't matter." Ryuji said firmly, leaning forward. "She's an idol. I'm me. There are better odds of findin' out who framed you and changin' their heart than of her even acknowledgin' my existence, so let's move on."

"I…I don't know how to take that." Akira said, looking at him with a bemused expression. "Seriously, I don't know if I should punch you in the face for that."

"My point is, Bro, is that findin' out who framed you is at least possible." Ryuji said. "Believe me, we find out who did it, and I'll be the first one in the Palace."

"Fine." Akira said. "I still owe you two punches, however."

"And I still say worth it." Ryuji said back with a smile.

"Seriously you two?" Ann asked, looking between them while shaking her head.

"So, if we can please get back on topic?" Shiho asked, causing them to nod their heads. "We're going back in tomorrow. After that, Ann will model with Yusuke for a few days. Meanwhile, whoever isn't on bodyguard duty will continue to explore the Palace to look for anything that can be used out here in the real world to use against him, correct?"

"Sounds right." Akira said.

"Now, our last order of business." Ann said, looking at Akira. "I put forward the motion to change Joker's codename to Cougar-chaser." she said, causing Akira to sigh and roll his eyes. "All in favor?"

"Aye." Shiho, Ryuji, and Morgana said in unison.

"All opposed?"

"Me." Akira said, looking between them. "As the leader, my vote counts for five. Thus, I stay Joker."

"I beg to differ, Cougar-chaser." Ryuji said, chuckling while he said it.

"I'll tell you what." Akira said, leaning forward and letting the glare catch off his glasses. "I'll let you call me that, but in return I want the right to call you all something else as well." he said, looking up at them. "Still want to call me Cougar-chaser?"

"Yes." the group said in unison. Akira looked at them for a moment before shaking his head.

"I…honestly didn't expect you all to agree to that." he said.

He would really have to start thinking up some new names.

-

Wednesday, 5/14

-

AFTER SCHOOL

-

"This is seriously this guy's Palace!?" Skull yelled out as soon as they entered the Metaverse. "Fo'real!?"

"Welcome to the museum of works by Madarame's pupils which he then stole." Revanche said.

"I can't believe he sees that shack as a solid gold museum." Panther said, shaking her head. "Kamoshida seeing the school as a castle made more sense than…than _this_."

"That doesn't matter." Joker said, adjusting his gloves. "Right now, we need to move forward and continue exploring. We're going straight to the safe room we found." he finished, pulling out his phone. He tapped the saved data and selected the safe room.

"Beginning navigation." the Meta-nav said. Everything blurred for a moment before they found themselves standing in a safe room. The room shifted slightly to its real-world counterpart before shifting back into a lounge to relax in while exploring the museum.

"That room that this corresponds to…that was Yusuke's room." Panther said.

"It was?" Joker asked, causing her to nod her head.

"I guess that makes sense." Mona said. "Despite having absolute control of everything, Madarame must realize that he can't fully control whatever happens in that room since it does not technically belong to him. He knows that the room belongs to Yusuke, thus his control slips."

"Let me guess…you think, right?" Skull asked sarcastically. Mona simply glared up at him before Joker cleared his throat.

"You two can argue later." he said after he broke up their fight before it got a chance to start. "We have more important things to do."

"That's right." Panther said. "The quicker we can find and steal his Treasure, the better."

"Let's go." Joker said, leading them out of the room.

-

For the most part, the infiltration was going good. They had only run into a handful of Shadows, and the Palace's design seemed fairly linear. Mona kept telling them that the Treasure was getting close, and they started to believe that they may be able to secure a route to it by the end of the day.

Of course, as what happens with things are going good, it has to be followed by something bad.

"Is this…a garden?" Revanche asked as they exited the museum. They looked around for a few moments before seeing a sign standing next to a walkway. They walked over and Joker cocked his head while reading it.

"'This garden separates the standard works donated to Madarame and his prized collection of works. The portion of the museum containing his prized collection is accessible via invite only.'" Joker read, turning to look at Mona. "I assume there's another way inside?"

"There has to be." he replied. "I can sense his Treasure coming from the second building. It's really close to the entrance of it."

"I guess all we can do is take a look." Joker said, walking toward the walkway. As they approached it, the screens covering the walkway spread apart to reveal courtyard outside a strange door. Skull stopped walking as the others approached.

"There's another sign here." Panther said, looking down at it. "'Access to Madarame's prized collection is accessible via invite only. The security cannot be turned off from the outside, and can only be accessed from the inside.'"

"Seriously?" Revanche asked, looking down at it as well before turning to Mona. "I thought you said that we'd be able to get in no matter what because of his 'guilty conscious' or whatever!?"

"And we did get in!" Mona shouted back. "There has to be a way to get through here."

"I've seen this door." Skull said, drawing their attention. He continued looking at the door for a moment before lowering his head to look at the rest of the Thieves. "When Yusuke was leadin' Panther and I inside that shack, I noticed a door down a hallway that was painted exactly like this."

"I bet that's how we get in, then." Mona said. "Madarame has to see that door open in the real world for it to open in here."

"So…random question." Panther asked. "Wouldn't the door in here simply close once he closed the real one?"

"We're going to have to split up again." Mona said. "I'll go in with Panther and Skull tomorrow. While Yusuke is distracted, I'll make my way over and open the door. While there, I'll see what's inside of it to see if it's anything we can use against him. As soon as Madarame see's it open, the one in here will open. Joker, Revanche, that's where you two come in. Once it opens in here, get through it and find a safe room. That way, we can avoid having to deal with it closing on us again."

"And if Madarame isn't in tomorrow?" Revanche asked.

"Wait for us to give you a signal." Mona said. "If he's not in, we'll simply wait until the next time he is in."

"All those thinking this is a stupid plan, raise your hand." Skull said, raising his hand. The rest of the Thieves, including Mona, raised their hands as well.

"All those thinking this is our only plan, keep them raised." Mona shot back after a moment.

Their hands continued to be raised.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any issues with anything said thus far or in the future about shogi that may be wrong is simply because I literally spent maybe an hour at the most looking it up online at two in the morning while sick with Covid. Assume anything that I got wrong is simply because I don't play it. The characters (yes, even Ryuji) do know how to play.
> 
> Also, while looking it up for the first time, I found out that a promoted rook is known as a "dragon king" piece. Had I looked this up, it would have been this piece as a phone charm that Hifumi bought Ryuji during the course of The Phantom Thieves of New Game+ as opposed to a simple knight piece.
> 
> All well. Maybe I'll do that next time.


End file.
